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Dr. Mark Laver, an Associate Professor of Music at ɬÀï·¬, is a pathbreaking and versatile saxophonist, educator, and scholar. As a jazz musician and creative improviser, Laver has performed with premier international artists including Lee Konitz, Seamus Blake, Kurt Elling, Eddie Prévost, Hugh Fraser, Dong-Won Kim, NEXUS, William Parker, Nicole Mitchell, Walter Thompson, Anat Cohen, Antonio Sanchez, Ellen Fullman, and Phil Nimmons. As a classical saxophonist, he has been a featured soloist with the Kingston Symphony Orchestra, the Guelph Symphony Orchestra, the Royal Conservatory Orchestra, and the Central Iowa Symphony Orchestra. His lengthy discography includes recordings with celebrated Canadian independent acts The Minotaurs, Muskox, The See Through Trio, Steamboat, and Feuermusik, and with his own group, The Earthtones, as well as with U.S. artists including the Iowa band, Pink Neighbor. Laver is also a widely published author. His book, Jazz Sells: Music, Marketing, and Meaning (Routledge 2015), explores the use of jazz music in advertising, and his co-edited collection of essays, Beyond the Classroom: Improvisation and Music Education (Routledge, 2016, with Ajay Heble) offers compelling new perspectives on the revolutionary potential of improvisation pedagogy. His current book project is a biography of iconic Canadian jazz composer, clarinetist, and educator, Phil Nimmons. His work has been featured or profiled in The Washington Post, Salon, Ms. Magazine, Fortune, Times for Higher Education, The Des Moines Register, Yahoo Entertainment, USA Today College, BBC Radio 4, and CNN.com. Laver is an alumnus of the Faculty of Music at the University of Toronto (2011), and of the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music (2005).