Members of the North American Saxophone Alliance:

It is my hope that you had a terrific summer filled with fun, relaxation, and lots of saxophone!

The World Saxophone Congress held in St. Andrews, Scotland this summer was an exciting, energizing, and powerful event.   St. Andrews is steeped in history, and I would like to think we made some history by filling the seven venues with an abundance of beautiful saxophone music.   The North American Saxophone Alliance had a significant presence at this prestigious event, as our members presented numerous concerts and lectures.  I would like to express my sincere thanks to Richard Ingham, Louise Richardson Frse, Michael Brogan, Margaret Douglass, Susan McKenzie, Claude Delangle and the International Saxophone Committee (including NASA members Kenneth Tse and Thomas Liley), for making this event possible.  In 2015, Phillipe Geiss will host the World Saxophone Congress XVII in Strasbourg, France.

Please note that several NASA Regional Conferences are planned for this year, which demonstrates the vibrancy of our organization.  You can find information on conferences in Regions 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, and 9 by visiting the NASA Website at saxallince.org.   

The NASA Nominating Committee plans to present nominees for the positions of president-elect, secretary, and treasurer for your perusal.  You will be able to view biographies and photographs on the NASA website.   I would like to express my sincere thanks to Debra Richtmeyer, John Sampen, and Stephen Mauk for serving on this important committee. 

In our efforts to promote jazz both within the North American Saxophone Alliance and the national saxophone community, Gene Smith (Jazz Competition Coordinator) and Brad Leali (NASA Jazz Coordinator) have created a NASA jazz advertisement that will appear in Jazz Times.  This full-page ad will run in the special Education Guide in October and will recognize the winners of our 2012 Jazz Competition.  Please encourage your jazz saxophone friends to join NASA as my hope is that some day NASA will have as many jazz performances as classical.

The Saxophone Symposium, Volume 35 (2012), will be mailed soon.   This volume will be a large issue and will feature articles by Laura Bukosky, Eric Nestler, and Olli-Pekka Tuomisalo (translated by Daniel Gordon).   Thank you to all who were involved in creating this important journal, especially Jennifer Turpen, Editor, and Eric Honour, Technical Editor. 

The NASA Executive Committee is already at work organizing the next NASA Biennial Conference, which will be held at the University of Illinois, March 20-23, 2014. Debra Richtmeyer and J. Michael Holmes will host this event. 

Best wishes to you all in your teaching, performing, recording, collaborating, composing, and promoting the saxophone in the 2012/2013 academic year.

Sincerely,

John Nichol

Professor of Saxophone

CMU

President – NASA