NASA Update, January-February, 2009

[G2:1956 class=g2image_float_left]Greetings and Happy New Year to everyone! It is a great privilege for me to write to you as the new President of the North American Saxophone Alliance. I would like to thank our former president, Dr. Steven Stusek, for his great leadership over the past two years. His dedication and vision for NASA have been truly inspiring. Under his direction, many new initiatives were developed including, with the expertise of Webmaster Thomas Lowry, a completely new website. Dr. Stusek and the Executive Board also established a new executive position, Competition Coordinator, which is now held by Dr. Connie Frigo; appointed a new Membership Director, Dr. James Romain; a new Editor of the Symposium, Dr. Jennifer Turpen; and a new Editor for Update, Dr. Carolyn Bryan. Their contributions already have been tremendous.

The results of the November elections are in, and I am delighted to announce three new officers for NASA. Congratulations and a huge welcome to

Prof. John Nichol, President-Elect

Dr. James Umble, Secretary

Dr. Andrew Dahlke, Treasurer

I look forward to working with them as well as all of the other members of the board! Dr. Jonathan Helton, Dr. David Stambler, and Dr. Scott Turpen will step down as Past-President, Secretary, and Treasurer respectively, and I would like to personally thank all of them for their valuable contributions to the growth and success of NASA.

This is an exciting time for the North American Saxophone Alliance. The membership has risen from less than 400 last April to over 1070, largely due to the success of the new website. NASA has never been more financially secure, and we are now in a position to set aside money for new projects and initiatives. The Executive Board will explore new ways to expand and improve our offerings; we welcome your ideas and suggestions.

Our immediate concern is to find a host for the next national biennial conference. We also need to fill the Director positions for Regions 2 and 10. If you would like to recommend someone or volunteer to host the biennial or become a director for one of these regions, please contact me as soon as possible.

Finally, I’d like to wish you a year filled with great joy, love, and music making!

Sincerely,

Debra Richtmeyer

drichtme@illinois.edu