Staff & Board

Eric joined The Dance Hall team in 2023 and is a multi-instrumentalist and composer residing in the stretch of Seacoast where New Hampshire, Maine, and Massachusetts meet. Eric has become a recognizable figure in a broad and prolific community of musicians and artists. Working as a freelance saxophonist, pianist, and educator, he has played with and arranged for a substantial number of ensembles. When he isn’t performing or teaching, Klaxton is an active producer and studio engineer.

Eric is a founding member of The Soggy Po Boys, a group known for their personal and exciting presentation of the music of New Orleans. The Po Boys tour nationally and have 5 studio releases to date since 2012.

As a sideman, Eric can be found playing a variety of reeds in Sojoy (a chordless septet featuring the music of drummer and composer Jonny Peiffer) and OurBigBand (a collective large ensemble intent on debuting new works that support the evolution of the big band tradition). In recent years, Eric has performed with renowned musicians and composers including: Dave Douglas, Ben Allison, Matt Wilson, Frank Carlberg, Matt Ulery, and Curtis Hasselbring.

In addition to his work with collective ensembles, Eric writes and arranges original works for various groups of his own, imbued with traditions from jazz, rock, folk, and electronic music. His electroacoustic group Rhegos has a debut release planned for summer 2022.

Valuing his role as a music educator, Eric offers private lessons for saxophone, piano, composition, improvisation, and music production. He teaches and coaches ensembles at Portsmouth Music and Arts Center, Concord Community Music School, and also keeps a busy private studio. Eric is available to lead workshops, coach ensembles, adjudicate middle and high school festivals, and give lectures.

Eric earned a Masters Degree in Jazz and Contemporary Music from Longy School of Music in the spring of ‘22. Notably, Klaxton has studied saxophone with Noah Preminger and Bill McHenry, as well as composition with Ben Allison and Frank Carlberg. He earned his BA in Saxophone Performance at the University of New Hampshire where he had the opportunity to work with many inspiring musicians including Clark Terry, Frank Wess, Terell Stafford, Jimmy Heath, and Stjepko Gut.

Eric broadly enjoys the arts across the spectrum and continues to seek inspiration from the works of great philosophers, classical composers, modern authors, directors, and visual artists.

Emily was introduced to The Dance Hall through Seacoast West African Drum and Dance classes, after meeting dance instructor and UNH librarian, Liz Fowler, while researching for a paper on West African music. She’s been hooked on classes and programming at The Dance Hall ever since - for the quality, variety and the unique experience of the space itself. Having spent many years in an orchestra environment, she loves The Dance Hall for the way sound envelopes the listeners, drawing them into its center, whether there are ten performers or just one. She joined The Dance Hall team as an administrative assistant in 2019 and now coordinates event operations, marketing and institutional advancement.