Bio - Performances and teaching
Todd Groves lives and performs in NYC on saxophones, flutes, clarinets, recorders, and world flutes in a range of styles from commercial music to jazz, classical, and world music. He can be heard regularly in Broadway pit orchestras, on concert stages, in clubs, and on many recordings.
Todd is the alto player in the New York Saxophone Quartet and the tenor player in the New Jersey Saxophone Quartet. He is one half of the Badger.Mantis Duo with his wife, flutist Lish Lindsey. He is also a member of the Justin Rothberg Group, performing world influenced funk/fusion throughout the city.
Since its opening in 2014, he has been the Reed 1 player for Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway, playing flute, piccolo, alto flute, clarinet, and alto sax. Since 2009 he has been in the orchestra for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, a position earned by winning an audition each year. He has also been a regular member of NY City Center’s Encores orchestra, performing for over 20 shows in their acclaimed revival series since 2008.
Orchestral performances with:
New York Philharmonic
Metropolitan Opera
Philadelphia Orchestra
New York City Ballet
New Jersey Symphony
New York City Opera
American Symphony Orchestra
New York Pops
West Chester Philharmonic
Stamford Symphony
New Jersey Festival Orchestra
Center for Contemporary Opera
Little Orchestra
Trenton Symphony
Since moving to NYC in 2005 from the Philadelphia area, Todd has held chairs in the Broadway shows:
Sunday In The Park With George (both 2017 and 2008 revivals)
Motown
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Follies
Catch Me If You Can
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Ragtime
White Christmas
Grey Gardens
Shows at NY City Center for Encores!, Off-Center, and Summer Stars series:
Mack and Mabel, High Button Shoes, I Married an Angel, Call Me Madam, Grand Hotel, Hey Look Me Over!, Assassins, The New Yorkers, Sunday in the Park With George, Runaways, Cabin In The Sky, Paint Your Wagon, Little Me, Fiorello, On Your Toes, Damn Yankees, The Wiz, Anyone Can Whistle, Merrily We Roll Along, Runaways, Cradle Will Rock, Faust
Other chairs held for NY area shows:
Happiness (Lincoln Center Theater)
See What I Wanna See (The Public Theater)
Edward Scissorhands (BAM)
Play Without Words (BAM)
Yank! (The York Theater)
I'll Be Damned (Off-Broadway)
It's a Hit! (Off-Broadway)
Take Flight (McCarter Theater, Princeton)
Far From Heaven (Williamstown Theater Festival)
R Shomon (Williamstown Theater Festival)
Recorded incidental music for:
Snow Geese
The Parisian Woman
Bull in a China Shop
Other NYC theater performances:
The Scarlet Pimpernel (MCP)
MCP Gala
My One and Only (Roundabout)
92y Lyrics and Lyricists
Lincoln Center Honors
Irish Repertory Theater Galas
The Jimmy Awards
The Frank Loesser Songbook
Second Chance (Joe's Pub)
Stars in the Alley
Broadway on Broadway
Gypsy of the Year
Wall to Wall Leonard Bernstein
Wall to Wall Steven Schwarz
Damascus Square (at the United Nations)
The Music of Scott Frankel and Michael Korie
Barack on Broadway
Camelot (Lincoln Center Theater)
Performances with:
Audra McDonald, Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Feinstein, Sutton Foster, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Rebecca Luker, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Crawford, Natalie Cole, Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin, Linda Eder, Joel Grey, Tommy Tune, Gino Vannelli, Seth MacFarlane, Johnny Mathis, the Duprees, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Melissa Manchester, Ryan Silverman, Pit Stop Players, Highland Divas, Randy Newman, Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration, Warren Haynes, Josh Groban, Joe Piscopo, Daniel Reichard, Dave Heckendorn Group, Birdland Big Band, Todd Sullivan Orchestra, Andrew Kober, Jubilate Deo Orchestra (tin whistle soloist), Paul Sorvino, Laura Osnes, New Amsterdam Fusion Orchestra (saxophone soloist)
National anthem performances for the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Bucks
Regular performances at:
Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Church
Park Avenue Synagogue
Prior ensembles:
Lars Halle Jazz Orchestra (lead alto)
Joe Sudler's Swing Machine
TV/soundtrack:
Fosse/Verdon, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards, Crazy Ex-Girlfriends, Good Morning America, and numerous jingles including AT&T and Dell, Design Invasion, Stephen Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration
Recordings:
A Sharpe Family Christmas by the Sharpe Family Singers, Artists in Residence, HEM, Boyz II Men, Lucky Stiff (film), Josh Green’s Cyborg Orchestra, Josh Young, Victoria Clark, Michael Longoria, Craig Thomas, Justin Rothberg, Charles Pillow, Philip Chaffin, Broken Chord music for theater, numerous independent films including Sign, Are You Joking?, Elron, High Maintenance, Hot Pepperoni, Gospel According to Matthew, and many Broadway and Off-Broadway cast albums, Old Jews Telling Jokes, Joshua Kobak, Patrice Kaluza, Eric Kearns, Alex Mitnick, Kayle Brecher, Ron Distefano, Carols for a Cure, Jane Norman, NFL Films, Lulu (MET opera), Porgy and Bess (MET opera), The Ride, Quarantine Woodwind Ensemble, Jill Senter
Teaching:
University of Delaware - Adjunct professor of saxophone and jazz (2003 to present)
Brooklyn College, Conservatory of Music - Adjunct professor of saxophone (2016-present)
New Jersey City University - Adjunct professor of woodwinds doubling (2016-present)
Summer Music in Tuscany - woodwind, jazz, chamber music, and composition teacher (2016-present)
UD Jazz in Istria - jazz saxophone, composition (2019-present)
Todd is an active composer, focused on original compositions for woodwinds and jazz ensembles of various sizes. His Active Agenda for sax quartet and percussion ensemble was premiered by the NJSQ at the 2018 World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia, and his Delaware Jazz Suite quartet was premiered by them at the 2006 WSC in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with a subsequent American premiere at Carnegie Hall. His other compositions have been performed at the International Saxophone Symposium and other national conventions.
Todd often appears as guest soloist with area wind ensembles, jazz ensembles and chamber ensembles. He has been featured with the University of Delaware's Wind Ensemble, Jazz Bands, Christiana Quartet, Delaware Steel, and others.
Todd is a member of UD's Faculty Jazz Ensemble, performing regularly on and off-campus.
Todd graduated summa cum laude from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia where he was awarded the honor of Valedictorian.
Instruments played:
Saxophones (soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, C melody, tenor, baritone)
Flutes (c flute, piccolo, alto, bass, contrabass)
Clarinets (Bb, A, Eb, C, bass, alto, contra-alto, contrabass)
Recorders (garklein, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass)
World and bamboo flutes (dizi, bansuri, Irish, whistles, duduk, mizmar, shakukachi, ryuteki, other bamboo flutes from various countries)
EWI - electronic wind instrument
Piano/keyboards
Electric bass
Todd is the alto player in the New York Saxophone Quartet and the tenor player in the New Jersey Saxophone Quartet. He is one half of the Badger.Mantis Duo with his wife, flutist Lish Lindsey. He is also a member of the Justin Rothberg Group, performing world influenced funk/fusion throughout the city.
Since its opening in 2014, he has been the Reed 1 player for Disney’s Aladdin on Broadway, playing flute, piccolo, alto flute, clarinet, and alto sax. Since 2009 he has been in the orchestra for the Radio City Christmas Spectacular, a position earned by winning an audition each year. He has also been a regular member of NY City Center’s Encores orchestra, performing for over 20 shows in their acclaimed revival series since 2008.
Orchestral performances with:
New York Philharmonic
Metropolitan Opera
Philadelphia Orchestra
New York City Ballet
New Jersey Symphony
New York City Opera
American Symphony Orchestra
New York Pops
West Chester Philharmonic
Stamford Symphony
New Jersey Festival Orchestra
Center for Contemporary Opera
Little Orchestra
Trenton Symphony
Since moving to NYC in 2005 from the Philadelphia area, Todd has held chairs in the Broadway shows:
Sunday In The Park With George (both 2017 and 2008 revivals)
Motown
Nice Work If You Can Get It
Follies
Catch Me If You Can
Women on the Verge of a Nervous Breakdown
Ragtime
White Christmas
Grey Gardens
Shows at NY City Center for Encores!, Off-Center, and Summer Stars series:
Mack and Mabel, High Button Shoes, I Married an Angel, Call Me Madam, Grand Hotel, Hey Look Me Over!, Assassins, The New Yorkers, Sunday in the Park With George, Runaways, Cabin In The Sky, Paint Your Wagon, Little Me, Fiorello, On Your Toes, Damn Yankees, The Wiz, Anyone Can Whistle, Merrily We Roll Along, Runaways, Cradle Will Rock, Faust
Other chairs held for NY area shows:
Happiness (Lincoln Center Theater)
See What I Wanna See (The Public Theater)
Edward Scissorhands (BAM)
Play Without Words (BAM)
Yank! (The York Theater)
I'll Be Damned (Off-Broadway)
It's a Hit! (Off-Broadway)
Take Flight (McCarter Theater, Princeton)
Far From Heaven (Williamstown Theater Festival)
R Shomon (Williamstown Theater Festival)
Recorded incidental music for:
Snow Geese
The Parisian Woman
Bull in a China Shop
Other NYC theater performances:
The Scarlet Pimpernel (MCP)
MCP Gala
My One and Only (Roundabout)
92y Lyrics and Lyricists
Lincoln Center Honors
Irish Repertory Theater Galas
The Jimmy Awards
The Frank Loesser Songbook
Second Chance (Joe's Pub)
Stars in the Alley
Broadway on Broadway
Gypsy of the Year
Wall to Wall Leonard Bernstein
Wall to Wall Steven Schwarz
Damascus Square (at the United Nations)
The Music of Scott Frankel and Michael Korie
Barack on Broadway
Camelot (Lincoln Center Theater)
Performances with:
Audra McDonald, Bernadette Peters, Kristin Chenoweth, Michael Feinstein, Sutton Foster, Frank Sinatra, Jr., Rebecca Luker, Andrea Bocelli, Michael Crawford, Natalie Cole, Lou Rawls, Aretha Franklin, Linda Eder, Joel Grey, Tommy Tune, Gino Vannelli, Seth MacFarlane, Johnny Mathis, the Duprees, Little Anthony & the Imperials, Melissa Manchester, Ryan Silverman, Pit Stop Players, Highland Divas, Randy Newman, Jerry Garcia Symphonic Celebration, Warren Haynes, Josh Groban, Joe Piscopo, Daniel Reichard, Dave Heckendorn Group, Birdland Big Band, Todd Sullivan Orchestra, Andrew Kober, Jubilate Deo Orchestra (tin whistle soloist), Paul Sorvino, Laura Osnes, New Amsterdam Fusion Orchestra (saxophone soloist)
National anthem performances for the Green Bay Packers and Milwaukee Bucks
Regular performances at:
Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Church
Park Avenue Synagogue
Prior ensembles:
Lars Halle Jazz Orchestra (lead alto)
Joe Sudler's Swing Machine
TV/soundtrack:
Fosse/Verdon, Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade, the Emmy Awards, the Tony Awards, Crazy Ex-Girlfriends, Good Morning America, and numerous jingles including AT&T and Dell, Design Invasion, Stephen Sondheim 90th Birthday Celebration
Recordings:
A Sharpe Family Christmas by the Sharpe Family Singers, Artists in Residence, HEM, Boyz II Men, Lucky Stiff (film), Josh Green’s Cyborg Orchestra, Josh Young, Victoria Clark, Michael Longoria, Craig Thomas, Justin Rothberg, Charles Pillow, Philip Chaffin, Broken Chord music for theater, numerous independent films including Sign, Are You Joking?, Elron, High Maintenance, Hot Pepperoni, Gospel According to Matthew, and many Broadway and Off-Broadway cast albums, Old Jews Telling Jokes, Joshua Kobak, Patrice Kaluza, Eric Kearns, Alex Mitnick, Kayle Brecher, Ron Distefano, Carols for a Cure, Jane Norman, NFL Films, Lulu (MET opera), Porgy and Bess (MET opera), The Ride, Quarantine Woodwind Ensemble, Jill Senter
Teaching:
University of Delaware - Adjunct professor of saxophone and jazz (2003 to present)
Brooklyn College, Conservatory of Music - Adjunct professor of saxophone (2016-present)
New Jersey City University - Adjunct professor of woodwinds doubling (2016-present)
Summer Music in Tuscany - woodwind, jazz, chamber music, and composition teacher (2016-present)
UD Jazz in Istria - jazz saxophone, composition (2019-present)
Todd is an active composer, focused on original compositions for woodwinds and jazz ensembles of various sizes. His Active Agenda for sax quartet and percussion ensemble was premiered by the NJSQ at the 2018 World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia, and his Delaware Jazz Suite quartet was premiered by them at the 2006 WSC in Ljubljana, Slovenia, with a subsequent American premiere at Carnegie Hall. His other compositions have been performed at the International Saxophone Symposium and other national conventions.
Todd often appears as guest soloist with area wind ensembles, jazz ensembles and chamber ensembles. He has been featured with the University of Delaware's Wind Ensemble, Jazz Bands, Christiana Quartet, Delaware Steel, and others.
Todd is a member of UD's Faculty Jazz Ensemble, performing regularly on and off-campus.
Todd graduated summa cum laude from the University of the Arts in Philadelphia where he was awarded the honor of Valedictorian.
Instruments played:
Saxophones (soprillo, sopranino, soprano, alto, C melody, tenor, baritone)
Flutes (c flute, piccolo, alto, bass, contrabass)
Clarinets (Bb, A, Eb, C, bass, alto, contra-alto, contrabass)
Recorders (garklein, sopranino, soprano, alto, tenor, bass)
World and bamboo flutes (dizi, bansuri, Irish, whistles, duduk, mizmar, shakukachi, ryuteki, other bamboo flutes from various countries)
EWI - electronic wind instrument
Piano/keyboards
Electric bass
