Joshua Hettwer is a musician, composer, and educator based in Chicago, Illinois. As a multi-woodwind instrumentalist, Joshua has played a wide range of repertoire varying from contemporary and classic jazz for combo and big band settings to new music and a myriad of orchestral works. His versatility has earned him many prestigious performing opportunities, most notably as the alto saxophonist and clarinetist of the Cherry Poppin' Daddies. Joshua is a regular member of many local ensembles, including his own quartet, which showcases his ability as a composer by playing his original music. Joshua's already lengthy career has brought him to 15 different U.S. States as well as 5 different countries (Mexico, Switzerland, France, Italy and Canada) and many different prestigious jazz festivals (Montreux, Vienne, Umbria, and Vancouver).
As a classical musician, Joshua won the clarinet audition for Orchestra NEXT, a ballet orchestra in Eugene, OR, for its first two seasons. In June 2015, he was awarded the second clarinet position in the Eugene Concert Orchestra. He has also played with the Eugene Symphony and the Newport Symphony.
Beyond his love of performing, Joshua is dedicated to pedagogy and has been teaching saxophone, clarinet and flute privately for over seven years. He regularly teaches sectionals and clinics at local middle and high schools, and was an adjudicator at the Oregon Jazz Festival and Pleasant Hill Jazz Festival in 2018. He has also held faculty positions at Salem's Young Musicians and Artists summer camp, the East Winds Band Camp, the University of Oregon's own Jazz Improvisation Camp. Known for his enthusiasm and connectivity with young jazz musicians, he is also consistently hired as a host of the Sunday Learner's Jams, which take place at a local jazz venue, The Jazz Station. He studied with Steve Owen, Idit Shner, Louis DeMartino, Jerome Simas, and David Hattner among many others. Joshua graduated from the University of Oregon with a Bachelors and Masters of Music degree in Jazz Saxophone Performance in 2015 and 2017 respectively.