North American Saxophone Alliance November/December 2006

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Regional Update

Greetings from sunny Florida!

It is time for the NASA membership toelect three new members to theNASA governing board. The nominat-ing committee, chaired by Jim Umble,has assembled an outstanding slate ofcandidates for this year’s election. Iencourage you to take some timetoday to read candidate biographiesand cast your ballot. This is one of themost important things we can do tohelp guide NASA in the years tocome. You will find your ballot en-closed in this issue of the NASAUpdate.

As I write this message, two institu-tions are preparing proposals to hostthe 2008 Biennial Conference. Bothlocations are very promising. We canlook forward to an exciting conferencenext year. Look for an official an-nouncement of the dates and locationon the NASA website.

The NASA Executive Committee ispleased to announce a new partnershipwith MakeMusic, Inc. that will makeSmartMusic accompaniment andpractice software available to all of ourmembers at a tremendous savings. Seedetails of this valuable new memberbenefit in this issue of the NASAUpdate.

My term as president will end with thecoming of a new year. My two yearsas President of NASA have been thehigh point of my 26-year affiliationwith the Alliance. As I move to theoffice of Past-President, I would liketo thank you for your support ofNASA and its programs and toencourage you to get more involved.There is always more to do!

I am very pleased to be succeeded bySteve Stusek, a colleague who I havecome to know and respect highly overthe past few years. I know NASA willbe in good hands with him at the helm.I look forward to working with Steve,and continuing to make my owncontribution to the future of the NorthAmerican Saxophone Alliance.

Jonathan Helton, Presidentjhelton@ufl.edu

in this issue...

President’s Message

NASA Nominations for Fall 2006

SmartMusic

30th Anniversary of the Navy Band International Saxophone Symposium

IMPORTANTELECTION MATERIAL

AND BALLOTINCLUDED

PLEASE VOTEIMMEDIATELY

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Debra Richtmeyer has been Professorof Saxophone at the University ofIllinois at Urbana-Champaign since1991 and has performed as a soloistthroughout North America and Europeand in Slovakia and the Czech Repub-lic. She has performed and/or re-corded as featured soloist with numer-ous orchestras, bands and entertainers,and in 1997 became the first woman toperform as a concerto soloist withorchestra at a World SaxophoneCongress. Richtmeyer has givenmaster classes at numerous nationaland international venues, has servedtwo terms as Second Vice President ofthe North American SaxophoneAlliance, and is an artist and clinicianfor the Selmer Corporation. Previouslya member of the music faculty at theUniversity of North Texas from 1981-1991, Richtmeyer holds degrees fromNorthwestern University, where shewas a student and teaching assistant ofFrederick L. Hemke. Richtmeyerreceived the 2002 University of Illinois“Campus Award for OutstandingGraduate and Professional Teaching”and the 1997 UI “College of Fine and

Applied Arts Award for OutstandingFaculty”. Her students have wonnational and international awards andperform and teach in North Americaand Europe. Richtmeyer’s latest soloCD, Extravaganza for Saxophoneand Orchestra was recently releasedby Albany Records and was reviewedas “…flawless...an extraordinaryalbum...” by the American RecordGuide.

Vision Statement

It has been my privilege to be amember of the North AmericanSaxophone Alliance for many yearsand I have thoroughly enjoyed theopportunities to perform, meet andhear saxophonists from around theworld. NASA is a family, and my ownexperiences and enduring relationshipshave culminated into an idea of howNASA can be at the forefront ofpromoting saxophone advocacy to itscurrent and future members. Ascommunication through the internetincreases, many new opportunities topromote the saxophone have becomeavailable. If elected President ofNASA I would like to explore newways of uniting and expanding theNASA membership to increase thepromotion of the saxophone and itsmusic. By broadening the NASAwebsite to include more informationand links to the world of saxophone, itsmusic and its pedagogy, we can makeit possible for the general public, aswell as ourselves, to share the vastknowledge and experience that wecollectively enjoy. The commonsentiment is that every year we arebusier than ever, and it thereforebecomes even more important for usto have a way to stay connected, shareour experiences, learn from each other,

and to continue to grow as musiciansand people. Vive le Saxophone!

Timothy Roberts

American Saxophonist TimothyRoberts, a native of Richardson,Texas, is Principal Saxophonist and aNational Tour Soloist with the UnitedStates Navy Band in Washington, DC.He is also Coordinator of the NavyBand’s International SaxophoneSymposium. Having performed forfour U.S. Presidents and throughout all48 states since joining the ensemble in1987, Roberts is a regularly featuredsoloist on Navy Band National ConcertTours throughout the Washington, D.C.area and around the world.

As winner of the National SymphonyOrchestra’s Concerto Competition, heappeared as soloist with the orchestraat the Kennedy Center for the Per-forming Arts. The Washington Postwas on hand and described his perfor-mance of Jacque Ibert’s Concertinoda Camera as “simply stunning.” His

NASA Nominations for Fall 2006The ballot and voting information is in this Update

President Elect:Debra Richtmeyer

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1999 concerto performance with theNavy Band in Quebec was reviewedby Le Soliel as “The audience enjoyedthe fluid technique, lightness of tone,and impeccable playing of saxophonistTimothy Roberts.” Most recently, theDallas Morning News noted, “... theespecially deft, lovingly played saxo-phone lent (his) own magic.”Roberts makes frequent appearanceswith the Dallas Symphony Orchestraperforming in Dallas, on Europeanfestival tours, and on numerousrecordings on the Dorian, Delos, andHyperion compact disc labels. Hewas one of three international saxo-phonists chosen to perform with theOrchestre d’harmonie du Congresmondial du saxophone at the XII WorldSaxophone Congress in Montreal, andhe later performed at the XIII and XIVWorld Saxophone Congresses inMinneapolis and Ljubljana, Slovenia,respectively. His tenor saxophonecompact disc, Vocalise, is available onthe Open Loop label. Robertsrecently completed his Doctorate ofMusical Arts from the CatholicUniversity of America, where he alsoholds a Master of Music in OrchestralInstruments. He has had numerouspieces composed especially for him,most recently John Heins’ Concertofor Alto Saxophone and WindEnsemble, and Wilfred Holcombe’sBlues Concerto for Alto Saxophone.

A strong proponent of music education,Roberts has published over thirtycolumns for Saxophone Joumal. Hehas developed a popular master classentitled “Developing a DisciplinedPractice Routine” that was premieredon a compact disc included in themagazine. Much in demand as asoloist with university and communitywind ensembles, Roberts also per-forms with the East Coast SaxophoneQuartet and maintains an activeteaching studio at Shepherd University

in Shepherdstown, W.Va. Mostrecently he served two successfulterms as Secretary of the NorthAmerican Saxophone Alliance.

Vision Statement

As a professional organization I wouldlike to see us do more to promote anatmosphere that breeds an image ofthe saxophone inclusive of all styles ofmusic – one that all types of musicalpatrons would want to come listen to.At our biennial conferences, too muchof the music being programmed isnever receiving a second performance.There are many ways to improve this.Contemporary music is very important- so we need to encourage more paneldiscussions and workshops at ourmeetings and in our publications onprogramming techniques and theproper ways to successfully commis-sion new music. As educators we needto then follow through back home byfacilitating these types of discussionsamong our own local and universitystudents, the future leaders of ourmembership. We also have a reputa-tion as being enthusiastic performers ofa “newer” instrument. For this reasoncomposers often flock to us, and weneed to do more to give our membersthe right tools to teach selectivity in ourprogramming.

Additionally, we have a much lowerratio of jazz saxophonists performing atour conferences than what exists in thereal world. Although we have alwaysbeen an academically legit-basedinstitution, many of us know world-class jazz colleagues in our ownuniversities and schools. As individualmembers of the organization we needto encourage these saxophonists tooffer more of their expertise to us inboth writing and at meetings. Educat-ing ourselves in a topic like “theincorporation of improvisation into thelegit studio lesson” would do greatthings to increase the realm and

exposure of our instrument, along withthe ranks of our membership down theroad. If elected to the position ofPresident-Elect, I would work closelywith the rest of the Executive Board toaffect innovative ways to further theseideals.

Secretary:Jan Berry-Baker

Saxophonist Jan Berry Baker is anative of Alberta, Canada. As a soloistand chamber musician, she hasperformed throughout North America,France, Switzerland, Austria and theCzech Republic. She has won topprizes in numerous competitionsincluding the Fischoff National Cham-ber Music Competition, the NorthAmerican Saxophone Alliance Con-certo Competition and the JohannStrauss Society competition. As anorchestral saxophonist, she regularlyplays with the Lyric Opera of Chicago,Grant Park Orchestra, ChicagoPhilharmonic and the Peninsula MusicFestival Orchestra. Her recentrecording of Barbara Kolb’s All inGood Time with the Grant ParkOrchestra was released on the Cedillelabel in August 2006. Baker has beenbroadcast in recital on CBC radio andWFMT Chicago and has premiered

Timothy Roberts (Cont’d)

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works by numerous composers,including M. William Karlins, WilliamBolcom, Mark Engebretson, JamesMattheson, and André Ducret.

As an educator, Dr. Baker has beenlecturing at Northwestern Universitysince 1999 and has been teachingsaxophone at the Chicago College ofPerforming Arts at Roosevelt Univer-sity since 2002. Beginning in fall 2006,she will also teach saxophone atEmory University in Atlanta. She wasthe sabbatical replacement for Dr.Frederick Hemke at NorthwesternUniversity in 2004 and was VisitingAssistant Professor of Saxophone atthe University of Alberta from 1998-1999. Her principal teachers includeFrederick L. Hemke, William H.Street, and Barbara Lorenz and sheholds a Doctor of Music degree insaxophone performance from North-western University.

James Romain

Dr. James Romain serves as AssistantProfessor of Saxophone and AssistantDirector of Jazz Studies at DrakeUniversity in Des Moines, IA. He wasthe first saxophonist to be awarded theDoctorate of Musical Arts degree in

Performance and Pedagogy from theUniversity of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, where he was a studentof Professor Debra Richtmeyer.While at UIUC, he was awarded theCooke Fellowship, served as teachingassistant for the saxophone studio, andwon the woodwind concerto competi-tion. At UIUC, Dr. Romain co-founded the Red Onion SaxophoneQuartet, an ensemble that has takenprizes in regional North AmericanSaxophone Alliance competitions andwas awarded the silver medal at the2001 Fischoff National ChamberMusic Competition. He has performedwith the Des Moines SymphonyOrchestra, the Illinois SymphonyOrchestra, the Champaign-Urbana andU of I Orchestras, and the WyomingSymphony Orchestra. Dr. Romain haspresented premieres at the past twoWorld Saxophone Congresses, inMinneapolis and in Ljubljana, Slovenia.

Dr. Romain holds prior degrees fromthe University of North Texas, wherehe was a teaching fellow and a studentof Professor James Riggs. As a jazzsaxophonist, he has performed withClark Terry, Ron Miles, Eric Gunnison,and at the Montreux Jazz Festival inSwitzerland.

Dr. Romain’s artistic mission focuseson fostering the establishment of thesaxophone as a medium of seriousmusical expression, and activelycontributing to the establishment of asubstantial body of serious music forthe instrument, through individualcommissioning of composers, consor-tium commission projects, and thepresentation of these works to thepublic through recitals, concertoperformances, and recording projects.

Leo Saguiguit

Leo Saguiguit is currently in his fifthyear as assistant professor of saxo-phone at the University of Missouri-Columbia. Prior to this appointment hetaught on the faculty of NorthwesternUniversity with Fred Hemke. Hisfifteen years of college teaching alsoincludes positions at Emory University,the University of the South, and Truett-McConnell College. He has alsotaught for the National High SchoolMusic Institute, Merit School of Musicof Chicago, and the Sewanee SummerMusic Center.

As a long-time member of the NorthAmerican Saxophone Alliance, he hasperformed for various regional andbiennial conferences throughout theUnited States, as well as performancesat the World Saxophone Congress. Heserved as coordinator of the classicalperformance competition for twobiennial conferences.

Saguiguit has appeared as soloist andchamber musician in performances atfestivals and universities throughout theUnited States and abroad. He has alsocollaborated with numerous chamberensembles throughout his career. He iscurrently tenor saxophonist of theChicago Saxophone Quartet, one of

Jan Berry-Baker (Cont’d)

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the nation’s oldest professional en-sembles of its kind. As a member ofthe Lithium, Impuls, and EnigmaSaxophone Quartets, he has performedthroughout the country and haspresented numerous premieres ofworks by today’s rising composers.The Enigma Quartet was a prizewin-ner in the prestigious Fischoff NationalChamber Music Competition. Saguiguithas toured America and Sweden witha chamber ensemble comprised ofviola, piano, saxophone and mezzo-soprano voice. Other chamber musiccollaborations include performanceswith Fulcrum Point New MusicProject (Chicago), Basel SaxophoneQuartet (Switzerland), ThamyrisContemporary Music Ensemble(Atlanta), the National Black ArtsFestival, the Sewanee Music Festival(Tennessee). and the Odyssey Cham-ber Music Series (Columbia, Missouri).

As an orchestral saxophonist, Saguiguithas performed regularly with the LyricOpera of Chicago, Milwaukee Sym-phony, Grant Park Music FestivalOrchestra, Atlanta Symphony, and theFlorida Orchestra. He has alsoperformed with the professional windensembles Philharmonia à Vent andthe New Sousa Band. Saguiguit hasappeared as soloist with numerousorchestras and wind ensembles and isfeatured in premiere recordings on CDof the music of Luc Marcel and JohnDavid Lamb. His live performanceshave been broadcast on Chicago’sWFMT and National Public Radio

Leo Saguiguit was born in Baguio City,Philippines and grew up in Illinois andGeorgia. He earned degrees fromEmory University and NorthwesternUniversity, where he was a student ofFrederick L. Hemke. Other teachersinclude Stutz Wimmer, Paul Bro, andJonathan Helton.

David Stambler

Originally from the Washington, D.C.area, saxophonist David Stambler hasestablished himself as a dynamicteacher and musician throughout theUnited States, performing both jazz andclassical music. He active as a recitaland symphonic soloist, and as “on-call”saxophonist with many orchestras,including the Baltimore Symphony, theAnnapolis Symphony, the Bay AtlanticSymphony, the National GalleryOrchestra, and the Baltimore ChamberOrchestra. He has performed at theJVC Jazz festival, the Princeton JazzFest, the Smithsonian Institution,Strathmore Hall, the Kennedy Center,the French Consulate in NY, and manyembassies in Washington. He hasperformed internationally in Japan,China, Guatemala, Bermuda, Canada,Spain, Italy, Slovenia, Austria, andRussia. He has accompanied many ofthe top entertainers in the world todayincluding Rosemary Clooney, SmokeyRobinson, Natalie Cole, Roberta Flack,Bobby McFerrin, Aaron Neville,Melissa Manchester, Louie Bellson,and many more.

Stambler has premiered numerousworks for saxophone including Novem-ber by Elam Sprenkle with the Balti-more Chamber Orchestra, DosMovimientos by Guggennheim-winnerCarlos Sanchez-Gutierrez with the BayAtlantic Symphony, Five Portraits by

Jonathan Leshnoff, Suite for Saxo-phone by Mark Lanz Weiser, andcompositions by John Harbison,Gunther Schuller, and MichaelColgrass through the WorldwideConcurrent Premieres and Commis-sion Fund. Mr. Stambler has recentlycommissioned Copland Award-winningcomposer James Grant to composeConcerto for Saxophone to bepremiered in 2007, and John AnthonyLennon to compose a new work forSaxophone and Chamber trio. He hasrecorded with the Baltimore Sym-phony, the Baltimore Chamber Or-chestra, and the Capitol Quartet, andcan be heard playing clarinet andsaxophone on dozens of nationallybroadcast radio and television commer-cials. As tenor saxophonist andarranger with the Capitol Quartet, heperforms frequently in recital venuesand with symphony orchestras nation-wide, including recent performanceswith the National Arts Center Orches-tra in Ottawa, Canada, and upcomingperformances of the Philip GlassConcerto for Saxophone Quartet withthe Baltimore Symphony in February,2007.

Mr. Stambler’s administrative experi-ence includes serving as President ofthe Margot Music Fund, a 501-c-3non-profit organization that raisesmoney for and sponsors scholarships,performances and commissions. Heheld the position of Director of JazzStudies at Towson University inBaltimore, and, for nearly ten years,was the manager of a very prosperousJazz Band and booking agency in theWashington –Baltimore area. He iscurrently Director of Operations forthe Capitol Quartet, with more than 30concerts and masterclasses scheduledfor 2006-2007, and for the past 2 yearshe has served as Secretary for theNorth American Saxophone Alliance.

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Saguiguit (Cont’d)

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Mr. Stambler studied clarinet at theOberlin Conservatory, and thenreceived his Bachelor of Musicdegree in saxophone from TheUniversity of Michigan, where hewas a student of Donald Sinta. Heholds the Master of Music degreefrom the Peabody Institute in Balti-more, and the DMA from the Univer-sity of Maryland. Mr. Stambler iscurrently Professor of Saxophone atPenn State University.

Treasurer:Cliff Leaman

Critics have hailed Clifford Leaman as“intuitive, exciting, and enthralling… anartist of the first order...” (PaulWagner, The Saxophone Journal) “...[an] artist of technical brilliance andemotional commitment.” “The rangeof colors is impressive...” (JackSullivan, American Record Guide).Prior to his appointment at the Univer-sity of South Carolina where he isProfessor of Saxophone, Leamanserved on the faculties of FurmanUniversity, Eastern Michigan Univer-sity, and The University of Michigan.He is in great demand as a soloist andclinician, and has performed andtaught throughout the United States,and in Canada, Italy, Spain and China,

where he was a featured guest artistfor the 2004, 2005, and 2006 YantaiInternational Music Festivals and the2005 Xi*an International Arts Festival. Dr. Leaman, in collaboration withpianist Derek Parsons, formed theAmbassador Duo in 1990; and theyhave released three critically acclaimedcompact discs on the Equilibrium label.These recordings are entitled Brillance(EQ-21), featuring the works ofBassett, Bolcom, Lennon, Kilstofte, andGotkovsky, and Excursions (EQ-55),featuring works of Heiden, Maurice,Whitney, Schumann, Rachmaninoff,Vaughan Williams, and Demersseman;and their most recent disc, Illumina-tions (EQ-77), features, among others,three works that were written for theduo. Dr. Leaman is also featured on avariety of recordings of solo andchamber works for Redwood Records,CRS, and the University of ArizonaRecordings. An avid supporter ofcontemporary music, Dr. Leaman hascommissioned and given the worldpremiere performances of numerousworks, including concertos by PulitzerPrize-winning composers, LeslieBassett and Michael Colgrass. Hegave the world premiere of the BassettConcerto and the XII World SaxophoneCongress in Montreal, with the Orches-tra Symphonique de Laval, and per-formed the work at the most recentNASA Biennial Conference with theUniversity of Iowa Symphony Orches-tra. His recording of the BassettConcerto with the University ofMichigan Symphony Orchestra isavailable through Equilibrium Record-ings (EQ-63). Dr. Leaman is an artist-clinician for the Conn-Selmer Company,Inc. and performs exclusively onSelmer saxophones.

Joseph Murphy

Joseph Murphy has been the saxo-phone professor at Mansfield Univer-sity of Pennsylvania since 1987. Hehas also served as department chair,director of bands and taught a varietyof classes. He received the Bachelorof Music Education from BowlingGreen State University (‘82), and theMasters and Doctorate degrees fromNorthwestern University (’83, ’94). Dr. Murphy was the music director ofTiffin (OH) Calvert High School from1983-85. In 1985-86 he received aFulbright Award for a year of study inBordeaux, France where he receiveda Premier Prix. In June 1996 Dr.Murphy performed a solo recital atLincoln Center. He has performed inFrance, Spain, Germany (1982 WSC),Taiwan, Japan (1988 WSC), Canada(2000 WSC), Slovenia (2006 WSC),and Greece. He has hosted a Region 8conference, been Region 8 coordinatorand has performed at many NASAevents. He is a clinician for theSelmer Corporation and has beenrecorded on Erol (France), MarkRecords, and Opus One labels. Dr.Murphy’s memberships include MusicEducators National Conference,Music Teachers National Association,North American Saxophone Alliance,National Association of College Wind

Stambler (Cont’d)

7& Percussion Instructors, College BandDirectors National Association, Phi MuAlpha, and Kappa Kappa Psi.

Scott Turpen

Dr. J. Scott Turpen is the Director of JazzStudies and Associate Professor ofMusic- Saxophone at the University ofWyoming. Originally from Nampa, Idaho,he earned his Bachelor of Music degree inMusic Education from Boise State

University. At the University ofGeorgia he completed his Master ofMusic degree in Woodwind Perfor-mance and Doctor of Musical Artsdegree in Saxophone Performance. His primary saxophone teachers haveincluded Kenneth Fischer and RitchardMaynard. Scott Turpen has earnedthe Jack P. Ellbogen MeritoriousClassroom Teaching Award from theUniversity of Wyoming and a Perform-ing Arts Fellowship from the WyomingArts Council.In demand as a performer and clinicianof jazz and classical music, Dr. Turpenhas performed throughout NorthAmerica and Europe. He has per-formed as a guest soloist at theMontreux Jazz Festival in Switzerlandand at several national and regionalmeetings of the North AmericanSaxophone Alliance. In addition, Dr.Turpen represented the United Stateswhen he performed at the XI, XII, andXIII World Saxophone Congressesheld in Valencia, Spain, Montreal,Canada, and Minneapolis, Minnesotarespectively. His prior orchestralexperience includes the Colorado

Symphony Orchestra, the MaconSymphony Orchestra, the SavannahSymphony Orchestra, and the AugustaSymphony Orchestra.Dr. Turpen has recorded music for thetelevision series National GeographicExplorer and has performed and taughtclinics at several music events includingThe Gene Harris Jazz Festival, TheUniversity of Georgia SaxophonePerformance Workshop, The SiskiyouSaxophone Workshop, the WyomingMusic Educator’s Conference, theGeorgia Music Educator’s Conference,and the Georgia Governor’s HonorProgram. As a proponent of new music,he has had many compositions dedicatedto him by such composers as AnneGuzzo, Melvin Shelton, and Derek Keller.Dr. Turpen has served on the ExecutiveBoard for the Georgia Association of JazzEducation as treasurer and is currentlyserving as the editor of the NASA Updatefor the North American SaxophoneAlliance. His solo saxophone CD,entitled Tableaux, is available throughmusic stores world wide. Scott Turpen isa Yamaha Performing Artist.

President-Elect: Secretary: Treasurer:_____Debra Richtmeyer _____Jan Berry-Baker _____Cliff Leaman_____Timothy Roberts _____James Romain _____Joseph Murphy

_____Leo Saguiguit _____Scott Turpen_____David Stambler

NORTH AMERICAN SAXOPHONE ALLIANCEFALL 2006 ELECTION BALLOT

Please read the included biographical information on each nominee, mark yourballot and return only the ballot (a photo copy is acceptable) to Dr. James

Umble, Chair, NASA Nominating Committee, Dana School of Music,Youngstown State University, Youngstown OH 44555.

All ballots must be postmarked no later than December 5, 2006in order to be counted.

Vote only for one candidate per office.

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The North American SaxophoneAlliance is partnering withSmartMusic® in order to bring exclu-sive key benefits to NASA membersand their students. First, NASA offersspecial pricing for a NASA SmartMusicsubscription. Instead of the standard$100 per year, the NASA SmartMusicsubscription is only $25 per year andprovides access to the SmartMusicaccompaniment library of more than30,000 solo titles and 50,000 skill-building exercises.

SmartMusic provides performers withthe interactive, effective practice toolsthat help develop the many skills thatintelligent, confident performancerequires. SmartMusic enables educatorsto guide, motivate, and documentindividual student development. ThroughSmartMusic assignments, practice timebecomes a time of student self-discov-ery and accelerated growth.

Main SmartMusic Interface

Fundamental Practice Tools forSaxophone PlayersSmartMusic is the complete musicpractice system with accompanimentsto more than 30,000 titles in a variety ofgenres. Its features are too numerous todescribe, but here is a summary of keyfeatures and benefits:Practice at any tempo: Start slowly andgradually work up speed.Isolate tough changes in practice loops:Take the bars with tough changes andconcentrate your practice on them,getting faster gradually.

Transpose to any key: Practice scales,arpeggios, or twisters in all 12 keys.Cursor: Optional cursor on the com-puter screen shows where the per-former is in the music.Built-in tuner: Play reference notes sothat you can hear as well as see wherethe pitch is. Fingering charts: Youngerstudents can click on any note to seeprimary and alternate fingering.Record yourself: Instant feedback tolisten to and perfect your performance.Make CDs: Document your progressand present to friends or parents.

Solo Repertoire: A Great Aid inTeaching MusicIt is essential to learn the solo part inconjunction with the accompaniment inorder to truly master a piece of music.With SmartMusic, the performer canlearn the solo part in context with thesynthesized accompaniment. Trickyrhythms can be perfected, intricateensemble passages can be learned, andthe harmonic context can be internalizedbefore rehearsing with a live pianist.This saves rehearsal time and results inmore efficient use of the time with thepianist. In rehearsal, more time can bespent on the musical shaping of thepiece, and less time spent on justlearning the part and putting it togetherwith the piano.

With SmartMusic you can adjust thetempo in order to master a phrase, andgradually work it up to speed. You canthen record yourself (WAV or MP3formats) in order to evaluate yourperformance. Practice loops can beprogrammed to perfect difficult pas-sages. SmartMusic can even play thesolo line along with you so to make sureyou are playing the solo part accurately.

SmartMusic ships with accompanimentsto quite a few of the standards of thesaxophone repertoire (Ibert, Heiden,

Hindemith, Glazunov, etc.), and alsoincludes a rich variety of transcriptionsof easy-to-medium difficulty.MakeMusic is currently working with abroad range of publishers and artists tobring even more repertoire into theSmartMusic library. Search theSmartMusic repertoire listing atwww.smartmusic.com.

Groundbreaking Intelligent Accom-paniment®Intelligent Accompaniment is anexclusive feature that encouragesperformers of all skill levels to explorevarious interpretations of their perfor-mance. SmartMusic actually listens toyou as you play, and follows spontane-ous tempo changes as you interpret themusic. When you speed up, SmartMusicadjusts the accompaniment to matchyour tempo. SmartMusic even waits asnotes are held.

50,000 Skill-Building ExercisesIncluded with SmartMusic are thou-sands of scales, intervals, arpeggios, andtwisters that can be practiced with avariety of articulations in any key andtempo with multiple accompaniments.Select from nearly every type of scale(major, natural minor, harmonic minor,melodic minor, chromatic, whole tone,pentatonic, and diminished). Theexercises are shown on screen, and thenotes you play are highlighted in realtime (wrong notes are shown in red!).Teachers can assign these exercises tostudents, and assessments can be madeof student performances that can be e-mailed to the teacher.

Make Your Own SmartMusic FilesDo you want to create your ownSmartMusic accompaniments? Finale®2007 allows users to create their ownSmartMusic files. These files can beaccompaniment only or can be accom-paniment plus music displayed on-

SmartMusic Offer in This Issue

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screen. All SmartMusic featuresautomatically work: Intelligent Accom-paniment®, display music for anyinstrument, transpose to any key,optional cursor to show performerswhere they are in the music, click onany note to see its fingering, assessmentwith red and green notes, practice loops,practice at any tempo, and recordyourself… all by just making a Finalefile! Finale 2005 and Finale 2006 alsohave the capability of saving a file as aSmartMusic accompaniment.

This is a great way to learn new pieces.If a composer can send you a Finale fileof a new work, you can use a recentversion of Finale to save it as aSmartMusic file. This is an especiallyuseful way to learn a concerto, whenyou will only have one or two rehearsalsto put it together. MIDI files can also beimported into Finale to createSmartMusic accompaniments.

With Finale, you can also create clicktracks to use with the SmartMusicmetronome. This becomes a veryvaluable tool when working with piecesin changing meters that cannot beplayed with a traditional metronome.

Needless to say, you can also createany number of exercises for yourstudents. Scale patterns, articulationexercises, warm-up routines: Createthem once and use them with all of yourstudents. Just prepare your exercises inFinale and save them as SmartMusicfiles.

Play By Ear ExercisesSmartMusic’s Play By Ear helpsstudents develop skills and ability to playby ear. How do students develop thiselusive skill? How can they privatelypractice playing what they just heard?SmartMusic provides a series of morethan 130 exercises that utilize call-and-response to guide and energize studentsto sharpen their ears.

Starting with exercises simple enoughfor first-year students, SmartMusicestablishes Play By Ear as a core skillfor all students. SmartMusic plays aphrase and then the student plays itback. When the exercise is finished,SmartMusic shows the students whatthey played correctly with green notesand what they played wrong (notes orrhythm) with red notes. Optional hintsare available such as showing studentsthe first note of each phrase in order toget them started properly. Slowly butsteadily, students learn to listen closelyand play back what they just heard.Only SmartMusic can provide thefeedback that fosters self-discovery andspeedy improvement.

These exercises also include 20 bluestracks created by Wynton Marsalis’smusicians with licks for students to playback just as they hear them. Thesetracks features blues in a variety ofstyles: fast, slow, medium, New Or-leans, rock, etc. The licks to be heardand played vary from easy to, well,challenging. Good luck!

Jazz Patterns for Any TuneHow can students develop the vocabu-lary of a chord or the grammar of aprogression? By practicing Jerry Coker-

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Play By Ear Exercises

like patterns that make explicit whenchords change and what notes comprisethem. SmartMusic facilitates this bydisplaying on-screen any of a number ofpatterns that automatically fit them-selves to whatever is the progression ofthe tune.

This means that students wishing tolearn Charlie Parker’s Bird Blueschanges can see the lead sheet on-screen or they can select to see any ofthe following patterns: Tonics, 123, 321,123321, 321123, 1235, 5321, 12355321,53211235, 1357, 7531, 13577531, and75311357. If they select Tonics, forexample, SmartMusic displays the tonicof each chord throughout the tune. Ifthey select 123, SmartMusic displays 1,2, and 3 for each chord, taking intoaccount minor triads, flatted ninths, etc.If they select 12355321, thenSmartMusic displays 1235 on one chordand 5321 on the next chord.

Furthermore, players can weanthemselves of seeing the notatedpatterns by electing to have progres-sively fewer of the noteheads appear.Eventually they grow to be able toplay the selected pattern with justslash notation.

10Smart Music (Cont’d)

On January 5 and 6, 2007, the U.S.Navy Band in Washington, D.C. willhold the 30th Anniversary of its annualInternational Saxophone Symposiumat George Mason University Centerfor the Arts in Fairfax, Virginia, justoutside Washington, DC. Soloists forthe Concert Band performance on theevening of the 5th will be DaleUnderwood, founder of the NavyBand Symposium, along with PhilippeGeisse of the Strasbourg Conserva-tory in France and Timothy Roberts,Principal Saxophonist and NationalTour Soloist of the Navy Band.Saturday night’s performance on the6th with the Navy Band’s Commo-dores jazz ensemble will featureinternational recording artist Mr. ChrisPotter. Over thirty classes andrecitals will be held on Friday eveningand Saturday during the day, alongwith instrument and vendor displays.

This will be the 30th year of the NavyBand’s Symposium, a tradition begunby Dale Underwood in 1977 and nowcarried on by Timothy Roberts. Over1200 people attend each year’sSymposium – last year over 50NASA members either performed orattended, with the balance of theattendance made up of the generalcommunity. The Navy Band takesspecial pride in the fact that the eventserves as an educational outreach to acommunity-based demographic thathas an interest in the saxophone.

Each year the band features onenoted international and one domesticguest artist for a concerto appearanceby invitation. Other proposals forclinics, recitals, panel discussions, and

lectures will be accepted before Oct.15, 2006 through the SaxophoneSymposium proposal link at the NavyBand’s website:www.navyband.navy.mil. Priorityconsideration will be given to peda-gogical proposals, along with perfor-mance programs tailored for largegeneral audiences. A final schedulewill be posted on the same site byNov. 1.

Also on the Navy Band website is anhistorical chronology of theSymposium’s 30 years, with eachyear’s program and artists listed.

The Saxophone Symposium is cur-rently sponsored by the U.S. NavyBand, Conn-Selmer, Inc. and theWashington Music Center.

30th Anniversary of theNavy Band InternationalSaxophone Symposium

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Update Staff:

EditorJ.Scott Turpen

Art DirectionDarryl Dean

With some titles at standard tempos, itwill be impossible for students to playthe patterns at first. That is whySmartMusic allows students topractice at any tempo. Studentsworking on 5321 with Confirmationwill probably start at a tempo far shortof where Charlie Parker typicallyrecorded it. But if they start slowly,they can gradually work up to theirbest tempo. The key is allowingstudents to practice things at anytempo, especially slow tempos, so thatthey can master how to do right itrather than master how to do itwrong.

How Does the Partnership Be-tween SmartMusic and NASAWork?Each member of NASA will receive aunique code (distributed with thisissue of the NASA Update). Thiscode will allow you to purchase thespecial NASA SmartMusic subscrip-tion for only $25. This is a significantsavings from the standard $100subscription and you will be able tovisit the SmartMusic site and generatecodes for your students. They will getthe same pricing as you—all becauseyou are a member of NASA.

For more information aboutSmartMusic visitwww.smartmusic.com.To learn more about the NASA offerplease see the announcement in thisnewsletter.

Jazz Pattern 12355321 shown in Bird Blues

11

Region II ConferenceOctober 27-28, 2006University of Northern ColoradoGreeley, COhost Andrew Dahlke

Region III ConferenceApril 13-15, 2007North Dakota State UniversityFargo, NDhost Matt Patnode

Region IV ConferenceFebruary 23-25, 2007Southern Methodist UniversityDallas, TXhost Donald Fabian

Regional Update

Region V ConferenceFebruary 23-24, 2007Vandercook and Illinois Institue ofTechnologyhost James Kasprzyk

Region VI ConferenceMarch 30-31, 2007Southeastern Louisiana UniversityHammond, LAhost Richard Schwartz

Region VII ConferenceMarch 30-31, 2007University of North Carolina,GreensboroGreensboro, NChost Steven Stusek

Region VIII ConferenceJanuary 19-20, 2007Penn State UniversityUniversity Park, PAhost David Stambler

Region IX ConferenceFebruary 22-24, 2007University of ReginaRegina, Saskatchewan, Canadahost Karen Finnsson

See NASA website for more information at www.saxalliance.org

Presort StdU.S. Postage

PAIDLaramie, WYPermit No. 1

North American Saxophone Alliance

Editor, NASA UpdateJ. Scott TurpenUniversity of WyomingDepartment of MusicDept. 3037, 1000 E. University Ave.Laramie, Wyoming 82071-3037

Region 1: WA, OR, ID, MT, WY, AKRhett BenderDepartment of MusicSouthern Oregon University1250 Siskiyou BlvdAshland, Oregon 97520541/552-6534FAX 541/552-6549www.sou.edu/music/bender.htmwww.brittfest.org/saxworkshop.htmbender@sou.edu

Region 2: CA, NV, UT, AZ, CO,NM, HIJeff BenedictCal. State L.A.Music Department5151 State Univ. DriveLos Angeles, CA 90032(213) 343-4099jbenedi@calstatela.edu

Region 3: ND, SD, NE, MN, IARussell PetersonMusic DepartmentConcordia CollegeMoorhead, MN 56562 (218) 299-4414rpeters@gloria.cord.edu

Region 4: KS, OK, MO, TX, ARDavid DeesSchool of Music, Box 42033College of Visual & Performing ArtsTexas Tech UniversityLubbock, TX 79409-2033d.dees@ttu.edu

Region 5: WI, IL, IN, OH, MIJim Kasprzyk33250 N. Island AvenueWildwood, Illinois 60030jimzyk@comcast.net

Region 6: LA, MS, AL,GA, FL, PRGriffin CampbellSchool of MusicLouisiana State Univ.Baton Rouge, LA70803-2504(225) 578-2586gcampbe@lsu.edu

Region 7: KY, TN, VA, NC,SC, MD, DE, DCMiles OslandMusic Dept,Univ. of KentuckyLexington, KY 40506-0022(606) 278-6420mosax@concentric.net

Region 8: NY, PA, NJ, WV, CT,MA, RI, VT, NH, MEGail LevinskyDepartment of MusicSusquehanna University514 University AveSelinsgrove, PA 17870(570) 372-4266

Director of ScholarlyPublicationsThomas LileyDepartment of Fine ArtsJoliet Junior CollegeJoliet, IL 60431(815) 280-2416tliley@jjc.eduEditor, SaxophoneSymposiumStacy MaugansCenter for the ArtsValparaiso UniversityValparaiso, IN 46383-6493(219) 464-5469/vStacy.Maugans@valpo.eduJazz Coordinator:Rick VanMatreProfessor and Director ofJazz StudiesUniversity of CincinnatiCollege-Conservatory of MusicCincinnati, OH 45221(513) 556-9447Rick.VanMatre@UC.eduEditor, NASA updateJ. Scott TurpenUniversity of WyomingDept. of MusicDept. 3037, 1000 E. University Ave.Laramie, Wyoming 82071(307) 766-4252sturpen@uwyo.edu

Region 9: British Columbia,Alberta, Saskatchewan,Manitoba, Yukon,Northwest TerritoriesRoss Ingstrup3120 Quadra StreetVictoria, BC CanadaV8X 1G1(250) 383-0673rossingstrup@fer-ociousproductions.com

Region 10:VACANT

EXECUTIVE BOARD NASA REGIONAL DIRECTORS

Membership DirectorKenneth Tse [cheh]2046 Voxman Music Bldg.Div. of Performing Arts,School of Music, University ofIowaIowa City, IA 52242(319) 335-1660kenneth-tse@uiowa.edu

WebmasterGriffin CampbellSchool of MusicLouisiana State Univ.Baton Rouge, LA 70803(225) 578-2586gcampbe@lsu.edu

PresidentJonathan HeltonUniversity of FloridaP.O. Box117900Gainesville, FL 32611(352) 392-0223jhelton@ufl.edu

President-ElectSteven StusekSchool of MusicUNC-GreensboroGreensboro, NC 27402(336) 334-5127/vscstusek@uncg.edu

Past PresidentJoe LulloffSchool of MusicMichigan State UniversityEast Lansing, MI(517) 353-5002Lulloff@msu.edu

SecretaryDavid StamblerPenn State School of MusicMusic Building 1University Park, PA 16802-1901(814) 865-0431/v(814) 865-6785/fdbs12@psu.edu

TreasurerThomas WalshSchool of MusicIndiana UniversityBloomington, IN 47405(812)855-4446/vtpwalsh@indiana.edu