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Earl Hefley
ehefley@ucok.edu
A native of Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, Earl Hefley is a veteran music
educator, conductor, and performing musician. He is presently an
instructor at the University of Central Oklahoma where he teaches
clarinet, saxophone and Music Appreciation for non-majors. Mr. Hefley
plays soprano saxophone in the UCO Faculty Saxophone Quartet. He
was a band and orchestra director for 10 years in the Putnum City
schools in Oklahoma City. Just recently Mr. Hefley completed four
years as music director and conductor of the Oklahoma Community
Orchestra. Currently, he spends summers conducting the Jubilee Community
Orchestra in Asheville, North Carolina, a summer community orchestra
project he co-founded in 1993 for the western North Carolina area.
With over 30 years experience as a free-lance musician, Earl Hefley still feels one of his favorite "gigs" is that of saxophone, flute and clarinet soloist with the Howard Hanger Jazz Fantasy. He has toured through countries in the Mediterranean and the Orient with the Jazz Fantasy. He also participated in recent recording projects with the Jazz Fantasy, releasing the CD’s Elementary Blues, A Simple Christmas, Dog Breath and Other Mind Boggling Hits for Kids, and Be Still My Soul. His newest recording is called All Shall Be Well. Also being remastered and released on CD is his first album with Howard Hanger, Cool Morning Air, which was recorded in 1986.
Earl Hefley’s woodwind improvisations frequently accompany Howard Hanger when he leads events sponsored by the United Methodist Church and other organizations for spiritual and personal enrichment. Included have been events in Columbia, Birmingham, Minneapolis, Omaha, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Baton Rouge, Shreveport, Fayetteville, New York, Asheville, Lake Junaluska, Phoenix, Nashville, Oklahoma City, and Salt Lake City. In the last three years he has, along with Howard Hanger, been a co-leader of tour groups visiting ancient sacred ritual sites in Greece, Crete, England and Ireland.
An active musician in the Oklahoma City area, Mr. Hefley’s music is heard in a variety of settings, from big bands and jazz combos to the Oklahoma City Philharmonic Orchestra. He has enjoyed playing in bands and orchestras for such artists as Glenn Campbell, Jack Jones, Lena Horne, Lou Rawls, Jim Nabors, The Temptations, The Four Tops, The Mills Brothers, Mel Torme, Ella Fitzgerald, Richard Harris, Bernadette Peters, Liberace, Arthur Fiedler, Johnny Mathis, Elvis Presley, Rod Stewart, Doc Severinsen, Arturo Sandoval, Sandi Patti, Kathy Lee Gifford, Amy Grant, and Manhattan Transfer.
He holds a Bachelor’s degree from Oklahoma City University and a Master’s Degree from the University of Central Oklahoma.