Patrick Meighan, The Albert N. Tipton Professor of Music, was appointed the first artist-teacher of saxophone at The Florida State University College of Music in 1974. He has concertized as a soloist and ensemble recitalist throughout the continental United States, Australia, Canada, China, Europe, and South America, and has appeared in music festivals and on radio and television in Albania, Colombia, Croatia, Germany, Japan, Kosovo, Peru, Puerto Rico, and Switzerland. Described in Musical America as "...most exceptional, with an otherworldly tone and fluid technique…" Professor Meighan has been the recipient of a 1988 Partners of the Americas Recital Grant to Colombia; a 1992 Fulbright Grant to Australia; a bronze medal at The 1993 International Chamber Music Competition and Festa in Osaka, Japan; and a 2003 U.S. Government Grant for concerts and classes at the 4th International Chamber Music Festival in Pristina, Kosovo. He holds degrees from Baldwin-Wallace College and The University of Michigan. His teachers have been Samuel Pattie, Galan Kral, Larry Teal, and pioneering classical saxophonist Sigurd Raschèr. Students of Professor Meighan have won national and international solo and chamber music competitions - including first place in the 1999 and 2007 MTNA Young Artist Chamber Music Competitions - and hold positions on music faculties in the United States and abroad. Three former students are currently members of the internationally renowned Raschèr Saxophone Quartet. On April 25, 2009 the "Mana Quartet" from FSU became the first saxophone quartet to win the grand prize at the 63rd Annual Coleman International Chamber Ensemble Competition.