Born in South Korea and raised in Michigan, VanHemert discovered jazz through Charlie Parker recordings from his late grandfather’s collection, later immersing himself in the alto lineage of Parker, Cannonball Adderley, and Kenny Garrett alongside tenor influences including Dexter Gordon, Sonny Rollins, John Coltrane, and Joe Henderson. He studied at Central Michigan University, the University of Michigan, and the University of Illinois, earning a doctorate under Chip McNeill and Ronald Bridgewater. Now an educator and clinician as well as a performer, he serves as Director of Jazz Studies at Northeastern State University in Oklahoma and is active in national arts-equity initiatives. He is also a Vandoren Artist-Clinician, Selmer Paris Performing Artist, and KeyLeaves endorser.

His recorded catalog traces an evolving artistic and personal narrative: the socially conscious debut I Am Not a Virus(2021); the folk-influenced Nomad; the introspective Metamorphosis; and the straight-ahead post-bop statement Deep in the Soil (2024), followed by Survival of the Fittest, which returned him to the tenor saxophone and deeper original composition. Across these projects, VanHemert seeks to unite the depth of the jazz tradition with the breadth of his cultural and lived experience — a philosophy he summarizes simply: “We live our best lives as musicians when we bring all of ourselves to the art form.”