Described as an “admirably skilled player” (The News-Gazette), saxophonist Wilson Poffenberger is a multifaceted performer and educator whose work spans a diverse array of genres and styles. Wilson currently serves as Assistant Professor of Saxophone at the University of Wisconsin-Stevens Point where he engages with the saxophone studio via applied instruction, saxophone pedagogy, and chamber music, with additional duties in the jazz and music theory areas. 

As an awards winning saxophonist, Wilson has garnered prizes at several prestigious national and international competitions including the American Prize Chamber Music Competition, Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition, North American Saxophone Alliance Quartet Competition, ENKOR International Woodwind and Brass Competition, and having been the first saxophonist to win the Krannert Debut Artist Competition. He has appeared as a soloist with the Boston Modern Orchestra Project, American Modern Orchestra, Sinfonia da Camera, Illinois Wind Symphony, contraBAND Ensemble, and the Dana Symphony Orchestra. As a jazz musician and recording artist, Wilson has collaborated alongside artists such as Marvin Stamm, Wycliffe Gordon, Jim Snidero, Don Aliquo, Chris Vadalla, and Jim Pugh, in addition to freelance work in Boston, Central Ohio, and South Georgia.

A tireless advocate for new music, Wilson has premiered over 40 new works, collaborating with composers such as Matthew Aucoin, Annika Socolofsky, Gregory Wanamaker, Carolyn Borcherding, David Biedenbender, and Badie Khaleghian, among many others. Wilson is a founding member of RE:duo, a boundary-pushing saxophone and viola duo whose mission is to engage audiences with innovative programming that blurs the lines between a variety of artistic disciplines. RE:duo has held residencies at leading institutions including Boston Conservatory at Berklee, University of North Texas, and the University of Florida, with additional ensemble-in-residence positions at the Composers Conference, Avaloch Farms Music Institute, Cortona Sessions for New Music, and the MATA Festival.

A passionate educator and mentor, Wilson has presented guest lectures and masterclasses at institutions such as the University of Georgia, New England Conservatory, Duquesne University, Georgia State University, University of Florida, and Texas A&M International University. He has enjoyed teaching in the summers at the Georgia Governor's Honors Program and Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s High School Composers Intensive. Wilson’s students have found success as public school band directors throughout the country, and have gone on to receive scholarships, competition honors, and graduate admissions at institutions including the University of Illinois, University of Minnesota, and Vanderbilt University.

Wilson earned his D.M.A. from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, M.M. from Youngstown State University, and B.S. from Indiana University of Pennsylvania, with additional study at the Conservatoire à Rayonnement Régional de Boulogne-Billancourt as a Harriet Hale Woolley Scholar and in the Boston Conservatory at Berklee’s Contemporary Classical Music Performance Program (CCMP). Prior to his appointment at UWSP, Wilson served as Lecturer of Saxophone at Valdosta State University. He performs exclusively on Selmer Paris saxophones and is a JLV Sound Ambassador.

When he’s not playing saxophone, Wilson enjoys honing his home coffee brewing skills, playing golf, and hanging out with his tuxedo cat, Pierre.