Models of Successful University Saxophone Studio Teaching: Three Interviews on Background, Process, and Teaching Philosophy

Lucas Halley, B.A. M.M.

A Document

Saxophone Performance

Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of Texas Tech University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of

Doctor of Musical Arts

Approved

Professor David Dees Chair of Committee

Dr. David Forrest

Dr. David Shea

Mark Sheridan Dean of the Graduate School

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Acknowledgements

This paper is dedicated to all of the teachers in my life who helped me reach this point in my education. I have the utmost respect and admiration for what they do. I would like to thank

Earline Sneed for the introduction into music for me and my army of siblings through piano lessons; Roxanne Vickers for the inspiration to pursue a college career in music; Michael

Barrientos who took an interest in me and left me with a life time appreciation for teachers;

Nathan Kruze for his guidance in my studies in music education and for cultivating my desire to become a teacher; and Kyle Stec for all of his support and inspiration when I was a struggling undergraduate.

I owe eternal gratitude to Professor David Dees, Dr. Nathan Nabb and Dr. Eric Nestler.

Not only for the vast amount of their time and effort dedicated to this project, but also for all of the energy they poured in to me as my primary teachers of saxophone. Words cannot describe the amount of respect I have for each of these individuals as saxophonists, musicians, teachers, and human beings. As this project and ideas came together I owe credit to Peggy Dees and inspiration from her paper1. I also owe credit to David Dees once again for his many suggestions and efforts in endless editing. I would like to thank Dr. Forrest and Dr. Shea for their flexibility and the vital feedback they provided serving on my defense committee.

I would like to thank my parents, Gloria Frizell and Joey Halley for their endless love and support. My mom has never missed a major musical performance since I started piano lessons at age of six. I would like to thank my siblings: Justin, Joshua, Seth-Paul, and Sarah for their support and peculiar senses of humor. I would also like to thank my honorary brothers Jerry and

1 Margaret Iris Dees, “A Review of Eight University Clarinet Studios: An Investigation of Pedagogical Style, Content and Philosophy Through Observation and Interview” (Florida State University, 2005), accessed April 1, 2018, http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-0791.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Brian and their spouses Andie and Ambre. Finally I would like to thank my fiancée Carly Hood for every step of love, support, and motivation she has provided throughout my last degree.

iii

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements ...... ii Abstract ...... vi Introduction ...... 1 Methodology ...... 3 Professor David Dees ...... 4 Email Questionnaire Transcript: Professor David Dees ...... 4 Background ...... 4 Lessons ...... 6 Quartet ...... 11 Saxophone Choir ...... 13 Studio Class ...... 14 Teaching Philosophy ...... 15 In Person Interview Transcription: Professor David Dees ...... 19 Observation Notes: Professor David Dees ...... 28 Dr. Nathan Nabb ...... 31 Email Questionnaire Transcript: Dr. Nathan Nabb ...... 31 Background ...... 31 Lessons ...... 33 Quartet ...... 35 Saxophone Choir ...... 36 Studio Class ...... 37 Teaching Philosophy ...... 37 In Person Interview Transcription: Dr. Nathan Nabb ...... 40 Observation Notes: Dr. Nathan Nabb ...... 53 Dr. Eric Nestler ...... 55 Email Questionnaire Transcript: Dr. Eric Nestler ...... 55 Background ...... 55 Lessons ...... 58 Quartet ...... 61 Saxophone Choir ...... 62

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Studio Class ...... 62 Teaching Philosophy ...... 64 In Person Interview Transcription: Dr. Eric Nestler ...... 66 Observation Notes: Dr. Eric Nestler ...... 81 Conclusion ...... 84 Bibliography ...... 87

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Abstract

This document is a portrait of three successful university saxophone studio professors:

Professor David Dees from Texas Tech University, Dr. Nathan Nabb from Stephen F. Austin

State University, and Dr. Eric Nestler from the University of North Texas. Information is provided on a range of topics related to university saxophone studio teaching including: educational and musical backgrounds, pedagogical approaches, and teaching philosophies. The information was gathered in three stages: an email questionnaire, an in person interview, and a lesson observation. This document is intended to be a resource for prospective college saxophone professors.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Introduction

This project was conceived of as a case study inspired partly by Julia Nolan‟s interviews with three legendary figures in the world of concert saxophone: “Conversations with Artist-

Teachers Frederick Hemke, Eugene Rousseau, and Donald Sinta2.” This document differs in that it explores the approaches of three successful mid-career professors. It provides a detailed account of their management strategies, teaching styles, philosophies and pedagogical approaches.

As I end my collegiate career and enter the professional world, I have been reflecting on the teaching styles and influence of my teachers. I have chosen my primary saxophone instructors for this because each displays a unique style of teaching and studio management. I earned my Bachelor‟s in Music Education while studying with Dr. Eric Nestler, my Masters of

Music in Saxophone Performance while studying with Dr. Nathan Nabb, and currently study with Professor David Dees while working towards a Doctorate in Musical Arts in Saxophone

Performance. Each environment was a very distinct and meaningful experience for me.

This project happened in three stages. In the first stage, each professor was given a questionnaire via email with questions in three categories: background, process and teaching philosophy. Background includes educational training and experiences, process includes lesson, quartet, saxophone choir, and studio structures, and teaching philosophy includes thoughts and comments on various aspects of studio teaching. These questionnaires were conducted over the fall of 2017 and spring of 2018 semesters. They were conducted via email and all professors received the same questions. In the second stage, I travelled to each school in the fall of 2018 for

2 Julia Nolan, “Fostering Artistry and Pedagogy: Conversations with Artist-Teachers Frederick Hemke, Eugene Rousseau, and Donald Sinta” (PhD diss., University of British Columbia, 2012), accessed April 1, 2018, http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42002.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 interviews with each professor. In the final stage each professor allowed me to observe one or two lessons given to students in their studios.

From this project I have found that personality, past educational experiences, and the size of a music program have significant influence on teaching styles. This paper presents transcripts of the questionnaires, interviews and observation notes. In addition to being a subject for this document, Professor David Dees served as an advisor on this project, assisting in formal structure, editing, meeting official requirements, and brainstorming. Interview responses were not shared amongst the three professors until after the final version was completed. This project has been submitted and gained IRB approval. Interviewees are presented alphabetically throughout.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Methodology

In the initial stage of this project, I developed a list of questions for the email questionnaire. I drew upon material from Julia Nolan‟s paper as well as Margaret Dees‟, from discussion with my peers as well as my own personal experiences34. As these questions came together, I found them falling under the three main categories presented: background, process, and teaching philosophy. The first rounds of questions were to be in an email format. My thoughts were that written questions and responses would allow for more precise language, the ability for each professor to complete questions at his own pace, and would allow the participants more time to reflect in crafting responses. Initially there were questions that addressed syllabi but these were ultimately removed since many syllabi are available online. Additional questions were removed to streamline the questionnaire as much as possible.

After the email questionnaires were completed. I conducted in person interviews and observed lessons. The in person interviews varied slightly for each participant, and included follow up questions from the email questionnaires. Additional questions were generated by soliciting students in the studio at TTU.

Defining the scope of this project was an ongoing process. If I were to do anything differently I might include more detailed instructions for the scope of the email questionnaire answers. There is potential for future research. It would be interesting to expand this project and add more participants. It could also be interesting to revisit the responses from professors Dees,

Nabb, and Nestler a number of years in the future to see if anything has changed in their teaching or philosophies.

3 Nolan, “Fostering Artistry and Pedagogy: Conversations with Artist-Teachers Frederick Hemke, Eugene Rousseau, and Donald Sinta.” 4 Dees, “A Review of Eight University Clarinet Studios: An Investigation of Pedagogical Style, Content and Philosophy Through Observation and Interview.”

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Professor David Dees

Professor David Dees has been the Professor of Saxophone at Texas Tech University

(TTU) in Lubbock, Texas from 1998 to present5. Professor Dees earned his Bachelor of Music from the University of North Texas from 1983-1989, studying with Debra Richtmeyer. He earned his Master of Music from Northwestern University from 1989-1991, studying with

Frederick Hemke.

Email Questionnaire Transcript: Professor David Dees

Background

Where were you born? Atlanta, Georgia.

Which cities and states did you grow up or live in prior to attending college? Atlanta, Georgia: (0-9 months) Albany, Georgia: (9 months -second grade) Lakeland, Florida: (3rd grade – high school)

At what age did you become involved in music? General music in elementary school. I started band/saxophone in 7th grade.

Do you have any family members involved in music or musical careers? My mom was an elementary music teacher and pianist, my oldest brother Mark played clarinet through college, and my sister Peggy was a clarinetist in the Navy Band in DC.

What musical activities were you involved in prior to college such as band, piano lessons, etc.? Concert bands/jazz bands/saxophone lessons.

Who were your early music teachers prior to attending college? Saxophone teachers: Art Femenella, William Schwab, Jim Bishop. Band Directors: Frank Howes (Southwest Jr. High Band) John Carmichael (Lakeland High School Band).

5 Texas Tech School of Music, “David Dees,” Texas Tech University, accessed April 1, 2018, https://www.depts.ttu.edu/music/aboutus/faculty/david-dees.php.

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How did you choose to start playing saxophone? In 4th or 5th grade I became interested in the saxophone and the way it sounded. I always wanted to play it and never really wanted to play anything else.

Which universities did you attend, what years were you in attendance and which degrees have you earned? University of North Texas: 1983-1989 Northwestern: 1989-1991

Did you always want a career in music and if not, what else did you consider? I have a lot of other interests but I‟ve never seriously considered a career in anything else. Also, I never really made a decision to have a career in music. It was just what I did.

When did you decide to pursue a career as a professor of saxophone? At some point in high school I started to think that I might want to be a saxophone professor. But I always approached it by just playing and trying to get better. I never had a strategic plan for my career.

Who do you consider to be your primary teachers in saxophone? Debra Richtmeyer and Frederick Hemke.

Who are some other influential teachers and what did they teach from your time in college? I‟ve had many excellent teachers and college professors but none were as influential as Richtmeyer and Hemke.

Do you have any educational training outside of music? Not really.

What jobs did you have during college? I taught middle school and high school saxophone lessons, mowed lawns, delivered pizzas and painted houses. I‟m a good painter.

When did you start looking for University jobs? While I was in graduate school.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

What has been your employment history since after college (position titles, place, dates)? Texas Tech University - Professor of Saxophone: 1998-present United States Army Band (Pershing‟s Own) - Washington, DC: 1992-1998 Levine School of Music - Saxophone Teacher (pre-college), Washington, DC: 1996-1998 Washington Conservatory - Saxophone Teacher (pre-college), Washington, DC: 1995-1998

Can you describe the application process for your current job and the steps you took to obtain it? The process was like most college searches – it was a national search and I sent in a vita and names of references. I knew Dale Underwood pretty well from being in DC and he was one of my references. Dale happened to have taught at the TTU Band Camp and knew several of the music faculty. This probably helped me get through the initial screening round. I was asked to send a recording, and then asked to come for an interview on campus.

Lessons

How are your lessons with Undergraduates structured (How long, often, one on one v partner, etc.)? I have used several different approaches: lesson partners, group lessons, rotation with the teaching assistants, etc. This semester, freshmen and sophomores have a thirty-minute lesson with me (usually on rep) and a thirty-minute lesson with our TA each week. The TA lessons cover technique and repertoire. Sometimes I give extra lesson time if a student has more to play during the week. Juniors, seniors and all grad students receive an hour per week with me.

Are lessons structured differently for graduate students and if so how? Not structured differently - but I don‟t work on technique as much with graduate students. The expectation is that they already know how to work on technique, and that they are already technically proficient. I try to work on music. Since grad students are older and can be more worldly, the process can be more open ended and less proscriptive sometimes.

What are the practice expectations for your students? It depends on what the student‟s goals are. A student who uses time wisely can get by on an hour or two per day. But, if you have a recital or competition or are targeting grad school, it obviously takes more. But, even with students doing competitions, etc. I try to encourage mindful practicing and balance.

What are your goals for your students both short term and long term? Some shorter term (semester) goals are to balance artistic achievement with growth. These two things don‟t always happen at the same time, but I like for students to experience both. Some longer term goals are for students to develop an increased appreciation for all of the possibilities of music - and to become self-sufficient.

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How much do you tailor lessons to individual student needs? A lot. Students have different strengths and weaknesses. They learn differently so I think teachers (including myself) are always looking for new ways to approach things. Having said that, there are many constants - there are many principles that I want my students to understand.

How do your expectations change when considering a student’s classification (freshman, senior etc.) and their individual ability level? I try to deal with students on a level of musical process and problem solving. My musical expectations for students are the same regardless of classification - to strive to play beautifully. Obviously there are differences in repertoire.

What are some common problems you see with students in your lessons and how do you address them? It‟s important for students to know how to practice. Listening is key and is mentally demanding. We can make music in lessons but the key is for the student to recognize that process and reproduce it by themselves in the practice room. One common problem is how music works in time, or how one might play “against” the metronome. I think Tabuteau talks about this. Also, for me the concept of line playing is important, so it comes up a lot in lessons. I use some ideas from the book called Kincadiana and other things that I learned in my lessons with Hemke and Richtmeyer. I also use Tabuteau numbers and some things I made up myself. I use whatever is out there that works and I experiment a lot.

What are some teaching tools you like to employ and how did you develop them? We use tools that are technical or mechanical, and some that are conceptual or stylistic. I use a lot of things that I learned from Debra Richtmeyer - work on problems of sound, tuning or response in the context of vibrato exercises, and a low register chromatic scale tonguing exercise. We work on some of the Donald Sinta voicing/flexibility exercises like unlocking the front F and mouthpiece pitches/scales. Sinta is one of my heroes. I also use things that I have learned from string players. I have exercises that address embouchure and facial muscles - I have always been interested in jazz versus classical embouchure and technique so we talk about that. I use a hierarchy to work on sound. I start at the bottom (equipment) and work my way up. It looks like this: 1. Sonorous Image (this is from Aaron Copland - he‟s talking about one‟s mental image of sound) 2. Air (I think of this as the 2nd most important thing) 3. Embouchure 4. Equipment

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

I‟m also interested in musical thought process and use some of the exercises Hemke would use. He would have a student read a paragraph of text while playing a passage – it shows how your brain has more than one moving part – it‟s almost like gears – maybe right brain, left brain. You have to get out of the way of the saxophone playing part and sing the music. There‟s a good Sonny Rollins video where he talks about “Moving towards the Subconscious.” It‟s the same thing. I made a handout for a recent studio class that lists some of the strategies we use. It has sort of a rough draft feel to it, and some items may not make sense without more discussion, but it has been helpful. These things aren‟t an exact science - we‟re not talking about rules - they are tools to experiment with:

Breaths and Rests 1. Pay attention to how note releases affect continuity - especially when taking breaths. 2. A rest consists of three parts: i. The note preceding the rest ii. The rest iii. The note that follows the rest (the line includes the rest).

Time/Rhythm 3. Play against the metronome in one of three ways: i. lingering/behind the beat ii. on the beat/in the groove iii. in front of the beat. 4. Tempo/Selection/Maintenance (TSM) governs When and therefore How things happen. 5. Rhythm is non-negotiable. 6. “Richtmeyer” difficult passages

Vibrato 7. Vibrato is subordinate to air/Vibrato is a cycle of energy similar to dribbling a basketball. 8. Vibrato can complement direction of air.

Articulation 9. Articulation is subordinate to air - continue to direct air through tongued passages. 10. All great wind players articulate well. Pay attention to the “consonant sound” of your attacks.

Musical Planning 11. Develop a plan: where is the music going and how does it get there? 12. What is the character of the music? 13. Where is the contrast and how is it created? 14. Approach/Arrival/Departure.

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15. Know every recording of the piece you are studying. 16. Know the composer of the piece you are studying. 17. Don‟t just play notes. Tell a story. Play music.

Dynamics 18. Dynamics are relative. 19. Dynamic markings are style markings.

Air/Phrasing 20. No parking allowed/avoid “static” or directionless playing. 21. Chromatic substitution for angular melodies. 22. “Reduce” octave displacement/play angular melodies in the same octave. 23. Use Tabuteau numbers. 24. Blow through ties. 25. When a line alternates long notes with moving notes, use the moving notes to advance the line forward. 26. De-emphasize diminuendos that are accompanied by a descent - think of finishing the line instead. 27. Ascending figures that crescendo sometimes need to be “front-loaded” - so that the peak moment doesn‟t happen too abruptly. 28. p-pp passages and gestures are more prone to becoming static, and can require additional support to convey direction. 29. Support “interior” notes (16ths, triplets, 8ths, etc.) - avoid emphasizing downbeats unnecessarily.

Register Issues 30. Low notes can be less pliable in phrases and need more air to move. 31. The altissimo register can be less pliable and require more attention with phrasing. 32. Left hand notes use a shorter tube and can require more support. 33. Notes in the palm keys/upper register sometimes have a natural brilliance and require slightly less air. 34. Notes in the palm keys (especially when leaping up to them) can sometimes require more support - they use less tube. “Venting effect.”

Accents 35. Accents can be more like tenuto markings in some lyrical passages - (“wah” versus ping”). 36. Tenuto markings often mean “emphasize” rather than just “full value.”

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Intonation 37. All great players play in tune. Always be proactive with tuning. 38. Intonation is non-negotiable.

Technique/Ear/Air 39. Even finger technique and clear technique and clear technical playing depend on Ear and Air. 40. Everything depends on Ear and Air.

What do you work on in lessons or what is the balance of repertoire, technique, scales, études, etc.? My priority is to work on repertoire because it‟s the most interesting to me, and this is where we have the best opportunity to work on music. We also work on études and technique.

How do you decide repertoire for your students to work on in lessons? I think selection of repertoire is a central part of one‟s musicianship so typically, we select repertoire together. I don‟t want students to be passive - and I don‟t want them to view pieces of music as assignments. You can‟t really play music that way. You have to love what you are playing. “Loving care” is what Stravinsky called it. But sometimes a piece that seems weird at first can start to make sense after you practice it. This is also an important process.

How do you decide which scales or études your students will work on? We have goals for students at each year of enrollment and scale and etude work is designed to help them reach or surpass these goals.

What repertoire do you consider to be core to study for undergraduates and for graduate students? There are a lot of great pieces in the repertoire and choosing a favorite(s) is kind of like choosing a favorite sports team. It‟s not an exact science and kind of depends on who you studied with, where you grew up, etc. But if I had to pick some pieces today, they would be the ones listed below. These pieces withstand the test of time for me and are still interesting to teach and practice/perform. I think within each piece they present a wide range of musical problems to solve. Undergraduates: Graduate: Creston - Sonata Dahl – Concerto Glazunov - Concerto Husa – Concerto Husa - Elegie et Rondeau Denisov – Sonate Lennon – Distances Within Me Albright – Sonata Mihalovici – Chant Premier Leroux – SPP

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

How do you use, interpret and assign grades to your students? There is a grading formula of weekly lesson grades, attendance, jury performances, etc. A low grade can sometimes help motivate or provide clarity for a student, and a good grade can be a nice reward for hard work. Grades have some value and use, but learning isn‟t always reflected in grades. You can learn a lot and make low grades, or learn less and make all A‟s. I‟ve never been overly fixated on grades as either a student or teacher.

Are there any competitions you have your students participate in and if so, which ones? My students have played in MTNA, NASA, Fischoff, Coleman, ENKOR, Coltman, and concerto and solo competitions - anything that they are eligible for and that works on their calendar/repertoire schedule. Competitions are a great way to gain professional experience, build a resume, hear new things and make connections. But many times you can learn more from losing them than winning. In playing for different judges you can also learn about different listening styles.

How much time in lessons is dedicated to jury preparation? It depends on the student, but a good deal of time. The jury is one of the major performance projects of the semester for undergrads.

What are the jury requirements for your students? A substantial solo piece not to exceed 10 minutes. All accompanied pieces are played with piano. Memorization is encouraged, but not required.

How are juries structured? It‟s a formal performance, 10 minutes, if written with piano accompaniment it must be performed with piano. Performances are given in the recital hall.

Who sits in, observes, and/or has say in the outcome of a student’s jury performance? The TTU woodwind faculty hears and grades all saxophone juries. Sometimes TAs will sit in as well.

Quartet

How are quartet coachings structured (How long, often, etc.)? It depends on what type of project the quartet is working on. In the Fall 2017 semester we had five quartets and I met with three of them usually once a week for 1-3 hours. Graduate assistants led most of the rehearsals with the other two.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

What are the rehearsal and practice expectations for your students? To learn their parts and know the score as soon as possible. This is really the beginning of the process, so the sooner they know their stuff, the sooner we can start working on music. Some groups rehearse twice a week and some rehearse every day. It depends on what they are practicing for.

How do you decide quartet members and instrumentation? I try to strike a balance between a lot of things. I talk to students about their interests and goals. I try to put people together with complimentary levels of experience and similar goals. For groups using the same personnel, sometimes it can be more valuable to move players to different voices (SATB), other times it‟s better to let them continue to refine the sound they have. It‟s good for students to play several of the saxophone voices during college.

Is there a course registration requirement or is quartet strictly extracurricular? Some, but not all students enroll. Typically, students have an interest in playing in quartet more than what is required by the degree.

What considerations go into deciding repertoire for the quartet? It should be high quality. The students should love or at least like it. I also use the “RPQ” or repertoire price quotient. It‟s the idea that a highly motivated and/or experienced group or individual can play pieces that may seem beyond them initially. Likewise, a less motivated and/or less experienced player may benefit from safer repertoire choices.

Are there any competitions you have quartets participate in and if so which ones? Yes - listed above.

What are some common problems you see in quartet and how do you address them? Listening, blend, balance, intonation, vibrato, articulation, time, uniformity of gesture, etc. Learning to listen more critically and consistently is the solution to many problems. There are musical strategies that I use to help students know what to listen for and how to conceive of using air. Movement is also important – not only in communicating across the group during performance, but as an exercise to reinforce rhythmic coordination. We record rehearsals, listen to other recordings of the rep, and just take everything apart and put it back together. The saxophone studio has acquired its own recording equipment over the years and it has been helpful. For the groups that are traveling and playing a lot of repertoire, we usually get into stage presence and overall presentation as well. Things like: performing standing versus seated, position of music stands, memorization, performance attire, etc. Successful groups also develop a lot of trust, respect and even love for one another. Chamber music kind of demands this - so I remind students of this from time to time. We have had some incredibly successful quartets at TTU. But, being successful in music often involves dealing with failure or setbacks - so you have

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 to be ready for it, and be able to learn and grow from it. Gratitude, humility and a sense of humor are all helpful.

What are some teaching tools you commonly employ for quartet and how did you develop them? Time is important in music. If you control when something happens you can control how it happens. As I mentioned earlier, we use movement to address time issues. I learned this from Debra Richtmeyer. The quartet will move their torsos in time to the tempo of the music while playing the piece. We use this in solo rep as well. It‟s a way to perform both the tempo and the rhythm. It‟s a great way to stabilize and internalize time, and develop conducting skills. Also, playing without a conductor is good for developing time. I also talk a lot about air and forward motion and many of the 40 items listed earlier.

Saxophone Choir

Do you have any large saxophone ensembles at your school? Yes.

If so, who directs it or leads it? Usually myself but students have conducted as well.

Is it a course or strictly extracurricular? Almost always extracurricular.

How are saxophone choir rehearsals structured (how long, often, etc.)? Sometimes we‟ve used studio class time – other times we add rehearsals whenever we can. We‟ve done 7AM and late nights.

What are the rehearsal and practice expectations for your students? The same as quartet – know parts and score as soon as possible.

How are members and instrumentation selected? Sometimes we use the whole studio - other times we use only 12. In those cases, I usually invite students who are most experienced or who have auditioned highest in the bands.

How is repertoire decided? I try to find quality repertoire. We‟ve played several great arrangements by students – music of Stravinsky, Gesualdo and Husa. And original pieces: the Claudio Gabrielle Coefficient, and the Stephen Taylor World Without Words. I try to avoid duplicating the repertoire and the experience they get in concert bands.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

What are some common problems you see in saxophone choir and how do you address them? It is a logistical challenge to meet and rehearse regularly with such a large group outside of the curriculum. Large ensembles tend to produce a heavy texture and style so sometimes we have to play lighter than in quartet.

Studio Class

How many students do you currently have in your studio (undergraduate, masters, and doctorates)? In Fall 2017 we had 24 total: 4 DMA, 2 MM and 18 undergrads.

What is the audition process for undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students? Undergraduates play approximately 10 minutes of music, MM play approximately 30 and DMA play approximately 45. We ask for a pre-screening recording prior to scheduling on campus graduate auditions. There isn‟t required repertoire but I usually consult with graduate applicants on their rep, prior to an on-campus audition. With all auditions I take some time for conversation. With graduate students I also have a lesson and usually a lunch or dinner with other TTU Saxophones. I like to get to know prospective students – and I like them to get to know me.

How much say did you have in the audition process and materials for these students? I am fortunate to have a lot of autonomy in the audition process.

How much say do you have in who is accepted? At TTU, the applied faculty in Winds and Percussion have a lot of autonomy in accepting students into the studios. But the studio size needs to be managed - not too many or too few. 18- 20 is really the magic number for me.

What considerations do you make when deciding acceptance for students at each level (undergraduate, masters, doctors)? I try to look at everything for students at each level. In addition to the audition, I look at academics, resume, achievements, repertoire, musical experiences, etc. As I mentioned, I also like to work with students and have a conversation with them. I like to see how responsive and flexible they are as musicians and know something of their goals and interests. I like to see that students (especially grad students) are developing goals for their time in school and beyond.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

What is the structure of your studio classes (how long, how often, what happens during this time, etc.)? One hour per week. We have various activities: sometimes straight forward coachings that the class observes, sometimes coachings with accompanying written or oral assignments for the class, listening tests, mock auditions, etc.

How would you describe your current studio, considering those saxophone students as a community? I encourage students to support one another. I prefer a work atmosphere that is focused, but relaxed and fun. Like any group, I‟m sure we have our less beautiful moments from time to time, but we are a collegial group and I enjoy every student that I teach. It‟s hard to work long hours if the vibe isn‟t right.

What influences do you feel you have over this community or are you able to influence its development at all? I think an applied faculty member can definitely set the tone of things in the studio. But the students do too. It‟s a partnership I think.

Teaching Philosophy

Has your teaching changed or evolved over the years? If so can you describe some of the changes and why they happened? My teaching has evolved over the years, but I have the same values. When I started, I approached teaching more from an “it‟s all about the music” angle. Now I approach it from an “it‟s all about the point at which the student and the music meet” angle, so I think I‟m a little more nuanced, and a little more student-centered. I wasn‟t very good at teaching fundamentals of saxophone technique when I started, but can do it now. I have more teaching chops now so am able to teach (and enjoy teaching) a wider variety of students. When I started, there were musical concepts that I understood but couldn‟t really teach. I gradually found techniques that work for me – many of them are in that earlier list. I also had to learn to conduct, move, sing, gesture, etc.

Who do you consider to be your most influential teachers and in what ways were they influential? I‟ve been fortunate to have fantastic music teachers at every point along the way:

Frank Howes – He was my 1st band director at Southwest Jr. High in Lakeland, FL. He created one of the great Jr. High Band programs in FL and the country. Things were organized, and vibrant. As a beginner, it seems like I was constantly playing - before, during and after school. There was concert band, jazz band, marching band, sectionals and private lessons. Age 13 can be confusing but band and the saxophone were my home base. I loved it.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Art Femenella – He was my first private lesson teacher and was the lead alto player at the Contemporary Resort at Disney World. He was a fantastic, professional player with a huge, beautiful alto sound. His tone quality would stick in my head - I was mesmerized by it and would go home and try to make a sound like his. I still remember what he sounded like.

John Carmichael – He was my band director at Lakeland High School and was one of the best directors in the country. We played great repertoire: things like Music for Prague, Hindemith Symphony, Aaron Copland‟s Emblems and Lincolnshire Posey. It was a super well run program – and a great musical environment for me as I was becoming more serious about things.

William Schwab – He taught at the University of Central FL and was the first professor I studied with. He was a former Hemke student so I started to learn about some of that tradition. He played that Mule recording for me – the one with Creston and Bonneau – I loved it and Marcel Mule has kind of stayed in my ear ever since. Mule‟s playing has really withstood the test of time for me. I‟m still inspired and in awe of his musicianship and how beautifully he approached things.

Jim Bishop – Jim was teaching with Hemke at Northwestern at the time. But, he was from Florida and I would take lessons from him when he was back during holidays. I only took a few lessons from him but they had a big impact on my understanding of listening, air, refinement and control.

Joe Kreines – He would clinic our band and sort of took me under his wing. When I was in high school I would visit him at his house in Satellite Beach and he would play recordings for me. He had these gigantic Magnepan speakers and an insane record collection and he played tons of repertoire for me. That was where I first heard Sinta and Hemke. I heard Sinta's recording of the Bassett Music for Saxophone and Piano. That recording still amazes me. I also heard Hemke's recordings of the Dahl and Husa Concertos. To this day, Sinta and Hemke are two of my heroes." I also heard Brahms and Beethoven Symphonies, Bartok Concerto for Orchestra and the Rite of Spring. He had the scores to everything and would conduct the recordings and give running commentary, and start singing the inner parts. He is a super passionate and brilliant musician and had a big impact on my sense of what music was and could be.

Debra Richtmeyer was my teacher at UNT. I absolutely loved her playing and teaching and she was the perfect teacher for me. She taught me about music – ways to get from note to note, how to phrase and use air, how to listen, how to play in tune, intervals, vibrato, sound, how to practice. I don‟t remember that we talked a lot about the instrument – she certainly knew the saxophone inside and out, but lessons were mostly focused on musical things. It was like studying with a concert violinist – and there was music in every lesson. She taught me most of

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 the standard repertoire that I know. She would play duets with me sometimes in lessons and I still remember what it sounded and felt like – it was amazing.

I studied with Frederick Hemke at Northwestern during my master‟s degree. I had started listening to him in high school and there was always something about his playing that sort of mesmerized me. There was a quality to his sound and approach to playing that I loved, and I always wondered what he was like. Lessons with him could go in any direction and could be unpredictable. He didn‟t play in my lessons but I got to hear him several times – I was a geek and would always try to sit on the front row so I could really try to hear what he was doing. He‟s one of the most charming people I‟ve known. He could be really funny at times and a little scary other times. He‟s always been an inspiration to me, musically and pedagogically.

Are there colleagues that have impacted your teaching and if so how? Yes - in many, many small and not so small ways. I‟ve learned a lot from seeing how other faculty and other saxophone professors interact with students. There are also several pianists that I‟ve worked with a lot and learned from.

Have there been any major obstacles or setbacks in your career and if so would you mind elaborating on some of them? I was a good player but an inexperienced teacher when I started at TTU, and there was a learning curve. I had some great models for teaching in both Richtmeyer and Hemke but I had to figure out my own thing. This was definitely an obstacle that I had to get through. It didn‟t happen overnight and it wasn‟t always pretty.

How much personal control do you feel you have in your teaching structures versus the control the university has or the degree program? I have autonomy in my studio teaching. However, our degree plan isn‟t always ideal. I believe that saxophonists should enroll in saxophone quartet each semester in college, rather than just one or two semesters. This is a minor issue that we work around.

Do you have any non-musical influences that have impacted your teaching in any way and if so, what and how? I think my teaching is a reflection of the values that I have, and my relationship to music. I can be idealistic and my first instincts as a teacher aren‟t always practical. I like art and was really into museums when I lived in Chicago and DC. There are a lot of connections between visual art and music and sometimes I try to use these in lessons.

How do you weigh being a performer versus being a teacher versus being a researcher and is there another role you consider yourself to be a part of professionally?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

I think of myself as a musician. Whether I‟m teaching or playing its musical problem-solving and hopefully music making.

Do you consider any of these roles to be more important than another and how do you balance these in your own career? I consider my research/creative activity and teaching to be about equal in my daily professional life.

What sort of different challenges have you seen during your teaching career? Learning how to teach is like learning how to play in that you have to find your own voice. You have to synthesize what you‟ve learned from others and also be yourself. It‟s this business of answering two questions: “What do I have to do?” and “Who am I?”

What challenges do you see for saxophonists currently pursuing a university teaching position? What advice do you have for them? Don‟t attempt it unless you love the work. Prepare yourself in every way that you possibly can. Stay focused on the things that inspire you. Understand that pursuing music and pursuing a career can require different skills and the rewards from each can be different.

What are some things you have learned from your students, or experience that you could not have learned from a university course? I‟ve learned about teaching from students. I also learn new repertoire. I spend a lot of one on one time with my students - and get to know them pretty well - but they have a lot of skills and interests that don‟t necessarily come into play during lessons - you don‟t see everything about a student in lessons - they have a lot more going on.

In what ways do you consider what you do to be important? Music is important for people and it‟s a good tool for examining things that are mysterious. It can bring people together and remind us that we aren‟t as different as we sometimes think.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

In Person Interview Transcription: Professor David Dees

Interviewer How did you hear about the job opening at Texas Tech and what were you doing at the time?

David Dees I heard about it through the normal channels. It was either the CMS listings or Chronicle of Higher Education. I was in the Army Band at the time but was looking for a college job.

Interviewer Did you know anybody at TTU prior to applying for the job?

David Dees Dale Underwood (who was for a long time the saxophone soloist in the Navy Band) had taught at the TTU Band Camp and knew a lot of people. He wrote me a letter of recommendation and I think that probably had a lot to do with me getting asked to send a recording. Like many of these searches there were three rounds: round one was to send a resume, round 2 was to send a recording and round 3 was the on campus interview. I think they asked 15 or 20 people to send a recording of jazz and classical and then they interviewed 3 people. I think that Dale talking to people on my behalf had a lot to do with getting me on the radar because I didn't have a doctorate and on paper I was probably very similar to anybody else who was applying. I was in the Army Band which I guess reflected well on me. I had won some concerto competitions but I hadn't done anything really insanely amazing. And probably for this job the lack of a doctorate would have been sort of a negative - although it wasn‟t a requirement either.

Interviewer You kind of lead into the next question I was going to ask. Can you walk through the application process you had for Tech as far as auditions, recordings, and interviews?

David Dees Yes, I sent a vita and cover letter. Then I got called and they asked me to send a recording of jazz and classical performances. I had been playing a lot of recitals around DC and had plenty of classical recordings to send but no current jazz recordings. I stopped all of my classical playing and just played jazz tenor for about 2 or 3 weeks then did some recordings. I was happy with what I sent in. I got invited to come interview, so I had to take leave (from the Army) to come down. You asked me about the interview process, do you want me to talk about that?

Interviewer Yes.

David Dees So I came down and interviewed. I did a Master Class and taught Glazunov and that was the first college student I‟d ever taught. I had taught jazz players at Northwestern but no classical players.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

I knew the Glazunov really well and so I just kind of flailed around and tried to do whatever I could to get the music to sound like I wanted it to. I also did a jazz saxophone sectional. I had some interviews but they were pretty informal. There were no stock interview questions. I played a recital and it was challenging because they asked to hear classical and jazz. I played with the staff accompanist and then I played with a rhythm section. I really wanted the job – I had prepared well and memorized everything. I received a lot of positive comments but it was hard - to shift your brain from classical to jazz in the same recital.

Interviewer Do you remember some of the repertoire you sent on your recording or performed in the recital?

David Dees I do. I remember a lot of it. I wanted to show different horns and different styles so on the CD I sent Lennon Distances Within Me, Guy Lacour Suite en Duo on two tenors - that was from a recital I had done with another member of the Army Band. I sent a quartet recording of something baroque - I think it was Scarlatti No. 44. It was the National Saxophone Quartet that I played with in DC. I put Dahl on there also. I didn't put complete pieces of anything - I used movements or excerpts because I didn‟t think they would listen to an entire 45-minute recording. I put an unaccompanied version of Lush Life and tried to play it like Joe Henderson does - it was unaccompanied. I was imitative of him but it wasn‟t a transcription. I also did a Coltrane tune called Satellite which is How High the Moon with Coltrane changes and I tried to play that in his style. So that was the CD. For the interview, if I remember correctly, I played Husa - Elegie and Rondo - which has always been one of my favorite tunes. I'm pretty sure I also played Tableaux. I think those were the two classical tunes I played and then I played a blues, I think it was maybe Now's the Time or something - just some kind of blues in F that I knew. I played I'll remember April. [Dees sings a short line] That was a new tune for me - I liked it a lot – but it was one I hadn't really played very much. I think I played a ballad but I don't remember what it was - and I played alto on everything. I had two different necks that I used so changing setups was easier.

Interviewer For the interviews do you remember who the committee members were?

David Dees Yeah. It was pretty much all wind & percussion faculty. The position when I first got here was split half jazz and half classical. Part of the interview would deal with jazz and part of it would deal with classical. It was real mixed in that way. The committee was made up of all wind and percussion people.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Interviewer You were saying it was kind of an informal process but do you remember any specific questions that you were asked or anything that may have been important in getting the job?

David Dees I don't really remember any specific questions that people asked. They didn't ask “what is your philosophy of teaching?” – or those stock questions. It was more like, “What you have been doing in DC?”, “What kind of performing do you do?”, “What kind of teaching do you do?” I do remember one thing I talked about - I had been teaching improvisation to some younger students in DC – they were 7th 8th and 9th graders. I would say “okay, play four half notes but you can play any note of this G major pentatonic, in any order.” I started to think that teaching improvisation was all about controlling the variables. You can teach improvisation to students at any level of sophistication as long as you control the variables. I later learned that some people call this “scaffolding” – In jazz improvisation especially, you‟ve got all these variables – you can‟t just say, “okay man. Here's the changes. Blow.” It's the same with classical. Its moving from the familiar to the unfamiliar. That was one of the points I remember trying to make in my interview.

Interviewer Knowing what you know now and the experiences you have is there anything you would have done differently if you were to go back and redo the job process?

David Dees In the application and the interview process?

Interviewer And finding the job in general is there anything you would have done differently?

David Dees No. Not really. I just really wanted a college job. The Army Band was great - I had done it for several years. But I always thought that college teaching would be a better fit for me - and that it would be a challenge. This was a good job to apply for - It was tenure track. It was one of these handful of jobs that comes open. I can't think of anything I would have done differently.

Interviewer Considering people looking to apply for jobs today what kind of changes do you see from when you applied for a job, and what kind of advice would you give beyond what you did to students looking for a job today?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

David Dees I think it's always been competitive. There's always a lot more qualified applicants than there are positions - but it's maybe even more so now. The level of playing is higher. I would say do everything you can to prepare yourself as well as you can - make sure you prepare yourself to be a teacher. The vast majority of our training, and almost all of mine was in performing. What I've seen is that many of the DMA students that we‟ve graduated from Tech are better teachers than I was when I started – especially when it comes to fundamentals. They're much more savvy about pedagogy and they have a lot more experience. They've kind of dialed themselves into teaching a lot more clearly then I was at the time. I think that's cool. I would say, make sure you are thinking of how you might function as a professor in a School of Music. What is that going to require of you? - and if you don't have the tools, what are some ways you can start getting that going? Also, putting together good materials - good recordings, good things you can put on your Vita, just doing everything you can to be prepared because it's so competitive.

Interviewer What activities outside of the curriculum, so outside of lessons, outside of quartet, or being in band would you recommend that a student might try to involve themselves in while they're going through their degree?

David Dees I would say teaching as much and in as many different settings as you can. Hang out with good teachers. Seeing what good beginning saxophone teachers say and what they do. Seeing what other professors (not just your own) say and do - really working to get your teaching chops together – actually teaching and getting feedback. Being in places where you can get good feedback or criticism where it's not hostile. And then competitions or anything like that that you can do - that's instant credibility. If you have some things like that that you can plug into your resume it's instant credibility. It's what some of my teachers used to call it. For all the weirdness of competitions and all the nonsense that's involved and all the contradictions, the bottom line is that they can open doors for you.

Interviewer I don't know if you remember or not but I auditioned here for my masters and I remember that one of the things you had mentioned was burnout. We were talking about things we might discuss in the future if I were to study here and it's always kind of set in the back of my head. Have you had to deal with that in students feeling burnt out and how to you address it?

David Dees Was I talking about myself or was I talking about the students?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Interviewer I don't know I just remember you brought up the idea and it's just something I thought a lot about before?

David Dees Yeah. That's interesting - I guess it could apply to either one. What I could say is that in my own case, the first six years that I was here I had just an absolutely ferocious workload. I taught 18 or 20 saxophone students. I would try to do quartets. I directed a jazz band. I taught jazz improvisation. I did jazz combos. So basically I was doing two full-time jobs as far as I can tell. It was exhilarating but also insane. It was also all new to me - I was learning on the job. I definitely experienced varying levels of exhaustion/burnout during the first six years that I was here, when I was in the pre-tenure phase of my career. After I got tenure the School of Music hired two more full-time jazz faculty members so I was able to move into just studio teaching. My job became a lot smoother and was more in line with where my head was really at - and I was no longer split between these two areas.

As far as students go, it's something to always be aware of, because it can be a long road, esp. for grad students. DMA students go through all of these degrees and with no guarantee that there will be a job. Some people are more susceptible to burn out than others but you have to be a student of your own process. It's a real art finding ways to do the work. Like the art of practicing - You‟ve got to find ways to practice that bring musical results, that work for you, where you're not banging your head on the wall, just operating the instrument.

Interviewer Have you ever had any students that specifically had trouble staying motivated?

David Dees Yeah. It‟s not common but there's the occasional student that comes in and doesn't make the transition as easily – or they just realize that they want to do something else. That‟s part of going to college – and is almost always a positive thing – students figuring themselves out. Most of our new students these days already have a great work ethic and know what college is all about before they start. Even for these I think there's a process of where you kind of shift into the next gear. The expectations are higher. You‟ve got to practice when you don't want to. It's no longer just being in band and hanging out. You are trying to achieve professional standards and so it becomes a different kind of relationship. It‟s work. Some people say “when I got to college it became a job.” Well, yeah. Hopefully it's a job you can also love but you have to make sacrifices. You don't just show up whenever you want and play the things that are fun. So there is this shift that happens.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Interviewer What kind of role do you see yourself play in relation to a student's motivation? Do you feel responsible for it at all?

David Dees Well yeah. I feel like the best thing that motivates students is musical achievement. If a student has musical achievement - if they experience musical and artistic results and success, for most people that's the thing. That's what motivates me. What I've seen is when people play well and they go through some process, even if it's just in a lesson, if we do something and they figure out how to play a phrase and it's like “sweet!” and they can hear it and quite often it feels good - it sounds good but I also have a lot of students who say “that felt good!,” that‟s how I view motivation.

Interviewer Speaking of creating opportunities for musical success for motivation, are there activities or things you found over the years that sort of have the opposite effect, that will decrease a student's motivation?

David Dees Yes, when I first started teaching I tried all different kinds of things. In some ways I drew on my own teachers. I studied with Debra Richtmeyer and Hemke – they are both legendary teachers and musicians and are both very much a part of my musical DNA. They had certain things they would do in their lessons and when I first started teaching I would try to use these things, not even necessarily through my own filter or sort of having absorbed them and then sort of translated them. Early on, I assigned scales to everyone at 152 – because that was what we did with Hemke. But I didn‟t present it in any kind of fun or exciting way so students were just frustrated I think. I also experimented with emphasizing grades – I know that works well in some studios but it didn‟t really suit me – it felt utilitarian. At one point some of the students started calling me David‟s D‟s. [Dees says with a grin on his face and we both laugh]

Interviewer I remember we passed out cards and took some suggestions from people in the past and some of these questions are kind of based on that, but there's one in particular that stood out to me that I sort of identify with and it's addressing the issue of students that feel left behind. So for example let's say you have someone who comes from a high school, who's had private lessons, and been really involved in all these competitions, UIL, and so forth, and somebody who's accepted, who didn't have that kind of attention, who didn't have lessons, and wasn't as involved. How do you handle those students? Is there a way for them to sort of catch up in a sense?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

David Dees That's a great question and it's something that I've been sensitive to. There is a span of experience and capability in the studio that's really varied and diverse. Particularly in the last several years as we‟ve had groups like Mirasol who are winning Fischoff and then at the same time in the studio there are people who are much less experienced. Philosophically, I think “okay, I want to focus on two things with everyone: artistic achievement and growth.” These are the two things. Sometimes you can have growth without artistic achievement. Sometimes you can have artistic achievement without growth. So it's not only about playing the Dahl beautifully, it's about getting better. If someone comes in and they're less experienced, I‟m approaching them just like I approach any other student, going from point A to point B and the value of improvement. It‟s not as glamorous as winning Fischoff buts its equally important. Another component in this is that I don't view lessons and all that we do in the saxophone studio as just performance-based. I view it as, maybe even increasingly as pedagogically focused. What I want people to be able to do is to not only understand concepts of musicianship and style but to be a teacher of these things - and not just a teacher of notes and instrument playing. This is probably the biggest impact I have as a teacher.

Interviewer In what ways do you get feedback from students and how do you respond?

David Dees Since the majority of what I do is private lessons and quartet rehearsals, I have a pretty good feel for most students. Having said that, I know there are times when things go south and I don't find out until later on when something negative happens. We have a formal student course evaluation process that is useful. It's important to me that the vibe is good and people feel like they're getting something out the process.

Interviewer You kind of mentioned it earlier when starting the job that you felt better prepared as a performer versus a teacher. How do you view the importance of those two roles? Is one more important than the other? Are they of equal importance?

David Dees I think they're both equally important. Most of what I teach comes out of musical sensibilities that I've developed as a performer. I feel like they're pretty much just joined at the hip, these two things. Being able to teach things and finding ways that convey what you're trying to say - that's obviously indispensable. That's what I didn't have the first several years I was teaching. I just didn't know how to teach what I wanted to teach. It was trial and error. I would say maybe it's like 50-50 because you can't do one without the other. If you don't have a level of musicianship to share then I think you are also missing out. They are equal partners I think.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Interviewer Speaking to our degree path as saxophone performance students it seems to inherently have more development on the performance side. Do you think that's changing at all today versus when you were in grad school? Say someone like me going through school right now. Is it still more performance heavy versus pedagogy?

David Dees I think it is. I think that probably people are more savvy also. I think there's more knowledge about teaching. I think people understand pedagogy and people have a more broad view of saxophone pedagogy now than when I was in school. I think it's a much more cosmopolitan kind of world of saxophone pedagogy and by that I mean that I think most saxophone teachers draw from a lot of different traditions more so than just teaching one kind of lineage. I think that's kind of a good thing. I think the degrees themselves just by their nature tend to be mostly focused on performance but I think maybe within that there's a lot more awareness of pedagogy and probably more of an awareness in terms of teacher training like I was saying preparing yourself to be a teacher.

Interviewer Speaking to the purpose of this project - wanting to have for myself and students like myself something to look at and gain insight about how to do this job, are there things that you wish you had the insight to when you were in graduate school that you may now know or have realized?

David Dees Yeah. Like I was saying it would have been helpful for me if I had more opportunities to get my teaching chops together. The other thing is when I was going through school and grad school I didn't spend a lot of time around people teaching. It was all performing. I don't think I had a pedagogy class when I was in grad school. But both of my degrees are in performance too. I feel like education is a lot more a part of the students‟ world than it ever was for me and that's definitely a plus.

Interviewer I ask this in the questionnaire but I would like to ask it again. In what ways do you feel the job you do is important or significant in the grand scheme of things?

David Dees One of the things I want people to sort of absorb is this idea: I want to expand on their appreciation of music, and I might even say hopefully their love of music. I feel like that's something I try to do via helping people have musical experiences. I hope in doing that, when people have musical experiences their love of music grows and not diminishes. Then the effect

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 that might have on people as performers and teachers - that's sort of encouraging to me. More and more, as I become a better teacher, the studio as a whole is absorbing things that are sort of musical core values to me. I want them to be able to teach their own students these things.

Interviewer That kind of wraps up the questions I had. Is there any sort of last bit of advice you would want to give to graduate students in the saxophone performance degree?

David Dees I would say be patient and persistent. That kind of goes without saying. I was saying earlier prepare yourself as well as you possibly can. Be a student of your own process and try to find a way to go through this whole thing that's fulfilling. Don't let yourself go into some kind of thing where you lose what it is that that makes it valuable. Find ways to stay refreshed and balanced.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Observation Notes: Professor David Dees

The lessons I observed took place in Professor Dees‟ office. I observed a freshman in music education and performance working on Upward Stream by Russell Peck and a first year

DMA student in performance working on the Galzunov Concerto. Lessons took place in side of

Professor Dees‟ office on the second floor of the music building. There were multiple stands and chairs in the room with enough space to fit a quartet if needed. There was an upright piano and a desk both covered in music and various saxophone parts, mouthpieces, and tools. Some older saxophones sat in their cases stacked in the corner of the office. Multiple pictures, concert programs, and musical posters lined the walls of the room. There were a couple of tall, thin bookshelves containing various books, CDs, reeds, etc. There were two fluorescent lighting areas on the ceiling and one of them was off. There was plenty of natural lighting entering the room from a window behind his desk. The room felt dim and well lit at the same time and it felt like you were entering a different, more relaxed atmosphere as you left the hallway of the music building and entered Professor Dees‟ office.

Both students and professor stood for the duration of the lessons. Dees was standing next to and slightly behind both students while reading the same piece of music on the same stand. In both lessons Dees asked the students “So what are we working on today?” and gave instructions to begin where they left off in a previous lesson. The student‟s began by playing about 2-3 minutes of music before Professor Dees would stop them and say “Okay, let‟s work on a few things.” Professor Dees predominately gave verbal instructions and demonstrations by singing. If he wanted the students to try something a different way, he always presented the idea as a suggestion and not a command. He would say things like “I would suggest bringing down the dynamics here…” or “I think it should be played like this but what do you think?” or “Let‟s

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 experiment with this section and play it a couple of different ways…” When a passage of music was successfully addressed, Professor Dees would confirm by saying “I like that a lot more” or

“How did that feel?” or “I like the vibe you are giving off now.” Professor Dees would also often sing to demonstrate what he wanted the student to try and do. He would also play on his own saxophone to demonstrate but singing happened more often and was worked into the verbal instruction. For example when working on Glazunov, Dees at one point said “it still doesn‟t feel like…(Dees sings)…you know?” Everything was presented in the form of an opinion or suggestion on how to make something better. The students were never told they were doing something wrong or right but rather given ways to possibly be more effective.

Dees also displayed abundant amounts of nonverbal communication. There was a range from simply standing and listening, to actively conducting, tapping his foot, and singing while the student was playing. If there was a technically challenging passage or a particular idea Dees was really trying to get across he would lean in to the more active role. If the student was demonstrating a passage for the first time, Professor Dees served the more passive role. When

Professor Dees was demonstrating a passage either by singing or playing he would sometime tap his foot loudly to show changes in tempo, or perhaps excessively lean the upper half of his body in towards the stand to visually show the musical emphasis. He would occasionally conduct, using his hands expressively, changing the size of his pattern, his facial expressions, and body posture or even snap his fingers to better control tempo and pacing to guide the student as they were playing.

At the end of each lesson, Professor Dees summed up everything that was addressed into one or two points for the student to focus on in their practicing. For the freshman lesson,

Professor Dees mentioned “Overall I would work on two things. One: aim left to right, or

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 horizontal direction and two: articulation.” For the DMA student Dees said “If there is one thing to focus on, I would say contrast.” The students may have had 20 or 30 specific little things that they addressed during the lesson but Dees would focus in on what he thought was most important for them to focus their efforts on at the end of the lesson. He asked each student what they were going to work on the following week and say “Okay, cool. Good job today. We‟ll see you next week.”

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Dr. Nathan Nabb

Dr. Nathan Nabb has been the Professor of Saxophone at Stephen F. Austin State

University (SFA) in Nacogdoches, Texas from 2010 to present6. Dr. Nabb earned his Bachelor of

Music in performance from the University of Illinois from 1998-2002, studying with Debra

Richtmeyer. He earned his Master of Music from Northwestern University from 2002-2003, studying with Frederick Hemke. He also earned his Doctorates in Music from Northwestern

University from 2003-2008.

Email Questionnaire Transcript: Dr. Nathan Nabb

Background

Where were you born? O‟Fallon, Illinois.

Which cities and states did you grow up or live in prior to attending college? O‟Fallon, Illinois.

At what age did you become involved in music? 11

Do you have any family members involved in music or musical careers? My dad played saxophone in band during high school, but stopped after.

What musical activities were you involved in prior to college such as band, piano lessons, etc.? I took piano lessons early but quit. I started band in fifth grade and have played ever since.

Who were your early music teachers prior to attending college? My band directors: Carol Hyde in elementary school, Ed Fulton in middle school and Vince Cosmano in high school. I also studied saxophone with Mark Stanaford, Paul DeMarinis, and Jeffrey Collins.

How did you choose to start playing saxophone? Well, I wanted to play percussion (drums at the time), but my father had a Selmer Mark VI alto in the closet from when he played in high school.

6 Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music, “Nathan Nabb,” Stephen F. Austin State University, accessed April 1, 2018, https://www.depts.ttu.edu/music/aboutus/faculty/david-dees.php.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Which Universities did you attend, what years were you in attendance and which degrees have you earned? I went to the University of Illinois for a BMus in performance (1998-2002), Northwestern University for a MMus (2002-2003) and Northwestern again for a DMus (2003-2008).

Did you always want a career in music and if not, what else did you consider? No, this was something I decided very late-the summer before my senior year in high school I also considered architecture and graphic design.

When did you decide to pursue a career as a professor of saxophone? During my sophomore year in college.

Who do you consider to be your primary teachers in saxophone? I have learned so much from so many in this wonderful field, but I consider my primary teachers to be Debra Richtmeyer and Frederick Hemke.

Who are some other influential teachers and what did they teach from your time in college? Adrian Childs in music theory and Inna Naroditskaya in musicology.

Do you have any educational training outside of music? Other than the core curriculum courses (general education requirements), no.

What jobs did you have during college? I worked at coffee shops throughout my undergrad and masters degree, but also taught many lessons.

When did you start looking for University jobs? During the final year of my Doctorate in Music.

What has been your employment history since after college (position titles, place, dates)? Professor of Saxophone at Stephen F. Austin State University (Full Professor 2014-Present) Associate Professor of Saxophone at Stephen F. Austin State University (2010-2014) Distinguished Professor of Saxophone Chongqing Normal University (2017-Present) Guest Master Teacher of Saxophone at Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (2015-2017) Assistant Professor of Saxophone at Morehead State University (2005-2010)

Can you describe the application process for your current job and the steps you took to obtain it? I saw the job posted on either the Music Vacancy List or on higheredjobs.com and applied. The job posting requested a CV, letters of recommendation, and recordings. I submitted all of these, had a phone interview, and then an on-campus interview. The on-campus interview was an extended visit, as is the normal college interview, with playing and teaching components, as well as interview with the committee, director of the school, and dean of the college.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Lessons

How are your lessons with Undergraduates structured (How long, often, one on one v partner, etc.)? I have partner lessons with undergrads and grad students once a week for an hour. Then, in addition to that, they have a 30 minute lesson with either me or the graduate assistant for technique exercises (scales, études, altissimo, tone production, etc.) depending on age. Freshmen and sophomores study technique with my graduate assistant, while upperclassmen and graduate students study technique with me.

Are lessons structured differently for graduate students and if so how? Generally no, though technique lessons can be much more freeform and used to address other repertoire concerns if preparing for recitals, competitions, etc.

What are the practice expectations for your students? As much as it takes to get the assigned materials learned, though I try to generally to assess how fast each student learns and be mindful of that. I try to give them assignments that they can complete with no more than four hours of practice a day, though it is usually less.

What are your goals for your students both short term and long term? That is a very complicated question and something I cannot give a general answer to other than to say that my goals for them are to become the best musician and person they can possibly be. I also try to take into consideration what their personal, career and musical goals are, and then align mine with theirs in order to get them there.

How much do you tailor lessons to individual student needs? Quite a bit. Each student is different and has varying strengths and weaknesses. I do have a set of expectations, but my instruction varies to help the students meet those. Of course, everyone learns differently as well, so I also have to take that into consideration.

How do your expectations change when considering a student’s classification (freshman, senior etc.) and of their individual ability level? Everyone comes to school, at every level, with a different background and prior experiences/training. So, the first few weeks are always devoted to figuring out what they know/how they learn/what they need. Once that‟s established, then I just find the right route to get everyone there. Sometimes they need a careful plan, others need a freer structure, but eventually they all get as close to their best as I can get them in the amount of time we have together.

What are some common problems you see with students in your lessons and how do you address them? One of the most common problems I see is with tension, and also embouchure issues, such as biting. I just try to reinforce the idea of ease of emission and playing relaxed, not letting tension creep throughout the body. Regarding embouchure - just reinforcing the properties of a tall embouchure, firm cushion, and proper voicing then associating a tone with how it feels.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

What are some teaching tools you like to employ and how did you develop them? Like most teachers, several of my tools I inherited from my teachers or other master teachers in the field. There really are too many to name here, but some I use are: the “bow and arrow” from The Breathing Gym to help visualize air; having a student lie on the floor, placing a book on their stomach, and having them raise it toward the ceiling when breathing in, and then keeping it raised when they blow air out; vocalizing syllables for voicing, etc.

What do you work on in lessons or what is the balance of repertoire, technique, scales, études, etc.? Since I have separate lessons for technique, I always ensure I am working on fundamentals and repertoire with my students. Approximately half of the time is spent on repertoire, and half the time is spent on technical study.

How do you decide repertoire for your students to work on in lessons? I try to balance it between making them work on important canonical or pedagogical pieces that will benefit them and allowing them to find pieces that they are motivated to learn. I find that if a student is motivated to study a certain piece, they will always practice it with a deeper enthusiasm.

How do you decide which scales or études your students will work on? In the first year I have a very specific requirement and timetable during which they learn major and minors in all 12 keys. After that, it becomes a little more customized to the needs of each student.

What repertoire do you consider to be core to study for undergraduates and for graduate students? Wow, this is a virtually impossible question to answer! For undergraduates and graduates I would consider the core repertoire to be, in no particular order, and will be by no means comprehensive: Creston Sonata, Maurice Tableaux de Provence, Milhaud Scaramouche, Heiden Sonata, Glazunov Concerto, Desenclos Prelude, Cadence, et Finale, Pascal Sonatine, Dahl Concerto, Yoshimatsu Fuzzy Bird Sonata, Bozza Improvisation and Caprice, Bozza Aria, Tower Wings, Decruck Sonate, Denisov Sonate, Albright Sonata, Berio Sequenza IXb, Berio Sequenza VIIb, Bolcom Lilith, Bolcom Concert Suite, etc. Of course, there are also many, many important transcriptions.

How do you use, interpret and assign grades to your students? All students are assigned grades, and obviously, in music, there is a certain amount of interpretation in this assessment. It is generally done based on a loose formula I supply here: Ability + Preparation Time / Performance in Lesson = Lesson Grade.

Are there any competitions you have your students participate in and if so, which ones? The usual ones: MTNA, NASA, Vandoren Emerging Artist, Yamaha Young Performing Artist, etc.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

How much time in lessons is dedicated to jury preparation? A successful jury performance is simply an outcome of good lesson and performance preparation, so I spend zero time on jury preparation specifically. The only exception to this is that I will occasionally spend time a few weeks before “barrier juries” on scales in the format they‟ll have to play them.

What are the jury requirements for your students? We simply have them play a six-minute segment from the pieces they‟ve been studying that semester. Upper-level or “barrier” juries also include preparation of major and all forms of minor scales.

How are juries structured? See above and below.

Who sits in, observes, and/or has say in the outcome of a student’s jury performance? All woodwind faculty. On upper-level juries, a selection of the entire wind, brass, and percussion faculty will observe and grade.

Quartet

How are quartet coachings structured (How long, often, etc.)? Typically, these are once a week for an hour, unless there are competitions or performances coming-up.

What are the rehearsal and practice expectations for your students? This typically depends on the goals of the group-competition or otherwise. Expectations are always high.

How do you decide quartet members and instrumentation? I try my best to assign groups by age and skill-level. This way, students can be in longstanding groups, grow together, and learn about maintaining a healthy ensemble dynamic.

Is there a course registration requirement or is quartet strictly extracurricular? For undergraduate music education majors (most of my students), there is no requirement. Performance majors are required to do two semesters of chamber music at the undergraduate and graduate levels.

What considerations go into deciding repertoire for the quartet? This has a lot to do with how young the students are, and the goals of the group. Often, I let them pick at least one of the pieces they‟re working on unless it‟s way above the level of the group, because there‟s a natural motivation there.

Are there any competitions you have quartets participate in and if so which ones? Yep. MTNA, Fischoff, Coleman (now seemingly defunct), Yellow Springs, NASA.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

What are some common problems you see in quartet and how do you address them? Most of the issues here end-up being personality-driven. I typically try to solve these issues through mediation, and it almost always works!

What are some teaching tools you commonly employ for quartet and how did you develop them? I don‟t have any teaching tools, necessarily, I just reinforce tuning and blend/balance above all else. Once, that is in good shape, the music can then receive all the attention it deserves. I also find that if the students are listening closely enough to those things, they‟re also going to listen closely for matching style, timing, and nuance.

Saxophone Choir

Do you have any large saxophone ensembles at your school? Yes, we have a saxophone choir.

If so, who directs it or leads it? My adjunct instructor Nicholas Bissen.

Is it a course or strictly extracurricular? Extracurricular.

How are saxophone choir rehearsals structured (how long, often, etc.)? They have one rehearsal per week. The rehearsal is one hour, but often extra rehearsals are added in the last couple of weeks before the concert.

What are the rehearsal and practice expectations for your students? Because of the limited rehearsal time, preparation for rehearsals is an absolute must. The students need to be totally prepared on their parts prior to rehearsal.

How are members and instrumentation selected? By interest and audition.

How is repertoire decided? I generally leave this up to Nick, but he decides this based upon difficulty of the repertoire, skill- level of the ensemble, and preparation time.

What are some common problems you see in saxophone choir and how do you address them? Balance and tone-color variation are the obvious ones. These need to be addressed by instrumentation of the group, and selecting well-done arrangements that also take these factors into consideration.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Studio Class

How many students do you currently have in your studio (undergraduate, masters, and doctorates)? 23 in total, with 17 undergraduates and 6 graduate students.

What is the audition process for undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students? It‟s a fairly standard process. They apply to the university and school of music, and then come on a pre-determined audition day (as their schedule allows) to audition for entrance and scholarship consideration. They perform their prepared music and do a bit of sight-reading, and then we visit for a bit.

How much say did you have in the audition process and materials for these students? This process has been in place for a long time and is working well, so not too much. But, students do often ask if music they are working on is suitable for an audition, so I do have a bit of influence with regards to what is performed.

How much say do you have in who is accepted? I have total control over who is admitted into my studio.

What considerations do you make when deciding acceptance for students at each level (undergraduate, masters, doctors)? For me, outstanding musicianship is of obvious importance, but also intelligence, diligence (grades, preparation level), and attitudes are equally as important. This is true for me at all levels.

What is the structure of your studio classes (how long, how often, what happens during this time, etc.)? One hour, once per week. Most of the time, this is a master class-style performance where the student or ensemble performs and I teach them in front of the class. Occasionally, I lecture on a specific topic, but this is less-often the case.

How would you describe your current studio, considering those saxophone students as a community? A wonderful group of positive, talented, and hard-working individuals that support each other and take pride in being part of a successful program.

What influences do you feel you have over this community or are you able to influence its development at all? Assuming we‟re still talking about my studio as a community, I feel as if I have a very strong impact on this. I try to lead by example, be a positive influence, and show that the students are important to me, and that their success and happiness matters.

Teaching Philosophy

Has your teaching changed or evolved over the years? If so can you describe some of the changes and why they happened?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Yes, absolutely. Most of the changes happened because of self-reflection, and constantly evaluating the way I deliver the information, and whether or not I still believe the information itself. Essentially, when we first begin teaching after being in college for several years, we tend to imitate what our teachers told us without enough forethought. This is not to say the information we received from our teachers is not good-quite the contrary! But, it was information for us, and for what WE needed. My students when I first started teaching did not need the same information that I received in my advanced degrees. So, I went back to basics, refocused my approach, and adjusted accordingly. The best part is, my students got much better as an outcome.

Who do you consider to be your most influential teachers and in what ways were they influential? Definitely Hemke and Richtmeyer. They were simply influential in EVERY way. They‟re both incredible musicians and pedagogues, and both incredible people. I‟ve been so fortunate to have studied with them, and they made an indelible impact on me, both in my playing and approach to teaching.

Are there colleagues that have impacted your teaching and if so how? Yes, of course. Dr. Chris Ayer and I have shared many thoughts on teaching through our long conversations about woodwind pedagogy; I‟ve spoken with Dr. Christina Guenther quite a bit about breathing, and all of our band directors at SFA about blend, balance.

Have there been any major obstacles or setbacks in your career and if so would you mind elaborating on some of them? I think every life and career has obstacles, and I‟ve certainly experienced some, but none that I can think of that qualified as a setback. Rather, I have learned from dealing with difficult (at times!) colleagues, trying students, or the ever-present concerns about work-life balance.

How much personal control do you feel you have in your teaching structures versus the control the university has or the degree program? I am very fortunate in that I have a great deal of autonomy in my teaching. Aside from codifying the number of lessons I am supposed to teach in a semester, the instruction method, content, etc. is totally to my discretion.

Do you have any non-musical influences that have impacted your teaching in any way and if so, what and how? I have always been into the visual arts, and I am a reader. I read all kinds of works, but primarily non-fiction and philosophical. I think being able to connect perspective and lines of thinking across all genres of art and literature is exceptionally important.

How do you weigh being a performer versus being a teacher versus being a researcher and is there another role you consider yourself to be a part of professionally? It‟s tough, and is always in a state of flux. Depending on the project, the weighting of those categories changes, but I try to balance as best I can. I am also an administrator, and am in charge of Undergraduate Studies at SFA, which is quite a large job.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Do you consider any of these roles to be more important than another and how do you balance these in your own career? In the end, the two most important roles for me are teaching and performing. One informs the other, and I still have so much enthusiasm for both.

What sort of different challenges have you seen your teaching career? Really, I have been teaching for 13 years now, and I have faced numerous challenges-all the ones you might expect. Funding issues, collegial issues, enrollment management issues, etc. But, the most meaningful challenges have been issues that I have had to help students through. Whether familial, personal, or professional, helping young people navigate problems has been the most rewarding, but also the most challenging.

What challenges do you see for saxophonists currently pursuing a university teaching position? What advice do you have for them? The market continues to be tough for full-time, tenure-track positions in academia. The move has been, for some time now, towards “adjunctification” of college faculty. Versatility is of course important, but perhaps more important, is a willingness to be patient and flexible. This, I have found, is the best way to carve a path in this world.

What are some things you have learned from your students, or experience that you could not have learned from a university course? I have learned that the most important quality in a teacher is not prodigious knowledge, or virtuosic playing abilities. The most important qualities in a teacher are empathy and trust. If you have those two qualities, and the students believe you are with them and have their best interests at heart, your knowledge means more. Your critiques are more impactful. And, your students are more successful.

In what ways do you consider what you do to be important? My mom has a really, really important job. Frankly, it‟s amazing. She has for years worked in pediatric spine surgery. Along with her colleagues and the doctors she works with, she truly transforms the lives of countless children. While I can never claim that teachers have the same kind of impact, teachers nonetheless have a transformative profession, just in a different way. I wanted to become a college professor because I know what an important experience it was for me, and I wanted to be a part of that for my students. I think what teachers and professors do is important in every way, immeasurable ways. My study of music changed who I am, and has had an impact on every one of my life experiences since I chose this path.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

In Person Interview Transcription: Dr. Nathan Nabb

Interviewer How did you hear about the job opening at SFA and what were you doing at the time?

Nathan Nabb Well, I heard about this job two ways. If you are a member of the College Music Society, you get something called the Music Vacancy List on a weekly basis. Most schools of music advertise in it, so each week, I think on a Thursday, they send out an email blast with all new openings. When you are looking for a job, you are always looking for that saxophone keyword, and rarely do we find it, but this position was open spring of 2010. So, I saw it there, and I also received a phone call from David Dees telling me about it. He told me it was a good place to be and suggested I apply because he thought it would be a good job and nice to have me in the state.

Interviewer Do you mind walking through the whole process? When you had to send recordings? What were the requirements were? Were there any live auditions or interviews you had to do?

Nathan Nabb So the posting for the position was fairly standard. Most of the time, in a job posting for a college teaching position, they‟ll ask you for a cover letter and occasionally they‟ll ask for a teaching philosophy. They did not ask me for a teaching philosophy for this position, but asked for a cover letter, curriculum vitae, transcripts, and recordings. I believe they specified live recordings. Some schools, when they advertise, will specify they want live recordings within the last two years or something similar to that.

This job was posted I think in mid-March. Typically, with college teaching positions, you have around a month to apply. I submitted my materials in mid-April and found out maybe a week later that they wanted me to come in for an interview. Because of the time of year, with it being close to the end of the school year, it was a bit of a compressed timeline to prepare. They wanted me to come in before school had let out and I think I had just missed that. It was right after the semester end, but they still had students around.

Again it was a pretty standard process. You interview with the director of the school, with the dean, with the search committee and then they also asked me to give a short recital - maybe 25 or 30 minutes, and then on the other side of that, was a teaching demonstration with two students. It‟s a day long process. Because there was potential for this to be the case, they had me teach in a secondary area. I taught music history for this portion. At Northwestern, I had done some graduate assistant work with a musicologist there, Inna Naroditskaya. Her specialty, or not her specialty because she‟s really too much of a polymath to have just one specialty, was classes she taught on Russian fairy tales and opera, music and gender, and some other courses. Because I

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 was interested in writing my dissertation, at least partly, on the Denisov Sonata (because that was the first piece to include extended techniques) I was very interested in these Russian components music history. So I presented on the Mighty Five for a history class. So, that was the process-pretty standard from what one can expect in a college search.

Interviewer Do you remember what you included on the recording you had to submit?

Nathan Nabb I don‟t.

Interviewer Do you remember what performed on the recital when you came?

Nathan Nabb Yes, some of it. I can give you my philosophy behind preparing recordings and recitals for interviews if that‟s okay?

Interviewer Sure.

Nathan Nabb. I think it‟s important that you demonstrate your flexibility in terms of playing-you want to be able to perform in a variety of styles. When a majority of your teaching is undergraduate saxophone teaching, I think it‟s important to demonstrate some playing in the standard repertoire. So, I think I did Tableaux de Provence. I also played Barry Cockcroft‟s Beat Me. It‟s certainly not jazz, but it‟s jazz inflected and very accessible to the listener. I played Mysterious Morning III for the other side-the very virtuosic and very contemporary and I think that was about all of the time that I had. So, you want to show something right down the middle, something very accessible but also very modern, and something a little bit more esoteric.

Interviewer Do you remember anything about the interviews? Are there any questions or responses that stood out?

Nathan Nabb Specific questions: things like “what are your strategies for recruiting students?” and “what are your thoughts on education in terms of playing both sides of the horn, classical and jazz?” I got a question from the director, “do you favor a performance approach or a pedagogy approach?” I was a little bit confused because I have a hard time separating those two things. Now the director

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 at that time was a pianist and we actually have a performance pedagogy major, which may have been on his mind. You also get questions like this: “are you okay with living in a small town?” Nac [Everyone there refers to Nacogdoches as Nac] is not a large town, but my answer at the time was yes, definitely. Frankly, this is three times the size of the town I was in before. You had asked previously what I was doing when I applied and I forgot to answer that. I was teaching at Morehead State. I was a professor there for five years before I came here.

Interviewer Do you have any advice for graduate students who are looking for jobs as far as being prepared for interviews and the interview process?

Nathan Nabb Preparing for an interview process...that‟s a tough one because each place is different and each job is different. I think the most important thing is that you really see what the job description looks like. You can read a lot into what they want from a job description. I think when you are preparing your cover letter and your curriculum vitae, look at their requirements. You want to weight your information to that. Now that doesn‟t mean trying to make it look like something that you‟re not. What it means is prioritizing the information that‟s on your CV to match what it is they seem to be looking for. If they are looking for somebody who‟s going to be professor of saxophone of jazz studies and you don‟t have much jazz experience, they‟re going to be able to sift through that pretty clearly. I think the other important thing is to apply for jobs that resonate with you and for jobs that you don‟t have to try and be somebody else. That‟s an uncomfortable position. If you get past the paper round and you get asked to go for an interview, I think it‟s also important to remember you are also interviewing them too. If you‟ve made it past the paper round, they‟re clearly very interested in you. They are already investing a lot of money in you by likely buying a plane ticket, putting you up in a hotel room, and paying for meals. Each candidate costs probably close to a $1000 by the end of the whole thing so they‟re clearly very interested in you. You have to make sure that what they are getting in that interview is you and not somebody that you think they want you to be. I think that‟s one of the most important things about an interview. You will be much happier in a job where they want what you have versus you trying to show them what you think that they want. You will be more successful in an interview process too when you are thinking that way. You speak much more from a depth of perspective, from experience, and also from truly your background and knowledge.

Interviewer Outside of the standard curriculum for a performance major: outside of lessons, outside of quartet, and outside of band. Are there other activities you would suggest students involve themselves in in order to be better prepared post-graduation?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Nathan Nabb I think that most importantly you need to find your own voice in this world. I don‟t mean something as specific as your sound, but your experiences and perspective need to be unique. We tend to exist in a world where a really fantastic player performs a piece really beautifully and then that piece becomes very popular. All of the sudden, tons of people are working on that piece. Of course, it‟s inspiring to hear somebody play it at that level and it‟s important to do those things and to work on pieces in that way. But when it comes to applying for a job, if on your CV you have the same experiences as everyone else, it‟s very difficult to stand out in a field of 60 or 70 people and you look like everybody else on paper. Playing the same works as everybody else is of course a small example, but it‟s a microcosm of a larger issue in that we tend to be pretty homogeneous in what we have to offer. I think the people that you see being very successful are the ones that have something that stands out - something that‟s unique about what they have to offer as a colleague and faculty member.

Interviewer Speaking to the role of a performance side of things versus a pedagogical side, could you elaborate more on that? How you think those two work in relation to each other?

Nathan Nabb Performance and pedagogy?

Interviewer Yeah.

Nathan Nabb For instance, think of pedagogy as just the study of teaching. What we are teaching is how to play music at the highest level that we can possibly achieve - creating the best musicians we can create. To me, the way we do that is by showing people how - not teaching them how to play something, but showing people how to interpret this code that we have on a page. This [Nabb holds up a sheet of music] to somebody who is not musically literate means absolutely nothing right? So, it‟s up to us with people who can read and play to show somebody how to interpret: to take what‟s on the page, breathe life into it, and make it their own. When you are working in this process, the pedagogy side of it and the performance side of it to me are impossible to separate because the study of pedagogy is also the study of performing. Sure, we can isolate techniques and say okay we are going to work on these scales. We can talk about how to shape the oral cavity in order to make the ideal sound. But, those are thought experiments without actually putting them into the performance environment. Lessons are our laboratory environment to work on these pedagogical ideas to transform them into the music. To apply them. The other side of it is also this: If we‟re working on technique and that doesn‟t transfer into the rep then it‟s really just for no other reason than to be able to say that I‟ve worked on it, right? It‟s really about

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 taking those things that we‟ve worked on and transferring them to rep. There is the pedagogy of approaching an instrument and the pedagogy of approaching the music, but you can't approach music without the instrument. So if you don‟t transfer the technical side (the teaching side) of it into the music, then we are being ineffective as teachers.

Interviewer Do you think that transfers into the student as well? Take a typical graduate student of saxophone performance. Do you think their studies can be more weighted to performing versus their ability to teach?

Nathan Nabb Well, ideally it would be both teaching and performing, because of what I mentioned earlier. If we are talking about teaching interpretation and you have a motivic structure that exists within this piece, then you‟re helping this student identify this and also where else it is in this piece, and how it‟s expanded upon or manipulated in some way. Showing them that, talking about how to bring that out to the listener, and how to cross that bridge - that‟s a skill that doesn‟t exist just in that piece. That‟s a skill that you can apply to all of the other pieces. I think most teachers, especially when we first go out into the field, tend to repeat what our teachers told us, because that's what helped us at the time. Of course, I think that‟s an essential foundation. Now, it is a foundation you have to think about because we all have different things that we need. So, what I needed as a student isn‟t necessarily what you needed as a student, or what any other student of mine needs. We can‟t just blanket apply that and expect this other student to get better. We have to be thoughtful about it and make sure if an approach isn‟t resonating with them that you have other tools in the bag? I think that growth of your own pedagogy springs forth from the foundations your teachers gave you.

Interviewer How do you see your role in a student‟s motivation? Do you feel responsible for it at all in lessons?

Nathan Nabb This is a tough question, and the short answer is, kind of. I‟ll parse it out for you. I am responsible for providing an environment for intrinsic motivation to thrive. I have to meet a student‟s motivation where they are and help them. The synthesis of my motivation and their motivation can create an even greater sense of excitement and drive; however, if the student is unmotivated, I can throw as much energy at them as I want and that‟s not necessarily going to get them to that next level. I tell my students this and I‟m very open about it: “I will put as much energy into you as you put into you.” I also remind them that this is the only time in your life, and I speak from experience now having a newborn - this is the only time in your life that you get to focus on you. You get to be selfish in the best way possible. You get to focus on you and

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 what it is that you want to do. This is really the only time in your life where you can isolate and do that. Of course there are extenuating circumstances with a lot of folks but the average student doesn‟t have to worry about a lot of other things besides school - maybe a part time job for some spending money but you get to focus on you. So I make sure and remind them. That‟s not necessarily a motivational tool, but something just to keep in the front of their minds when they are approaching their schoolwork. Of course, it‟s pretty rare when I have a student who isn‟t motivated to be a better player. Most of the time it‟s because something else in their life has been distracting. I‟m very fortunate that I have a very deep studio and one that is full of very good people. Their motivation, 95% of the time, is unquestionable. I think that the studio culture is also really important. There has to be a sense of pride in the way that the studio overall approaches their studies. I‟m very fortunate here that we really have that: the sense of pride in it being a strong studio and that everybody lifts each other up. While everybody is trying to be better it‟s also not a competitive environment. It‟s a supportive environment. The only person you are really competitive with is yourself to try and be better than you were the day before. So everybody is friends and everyone‟s motivation also feeds off of each other.

Interviewer Are there specific activities you‟ve noticed that either positively affect or negatively affect motivation?

Nathan Nabb I think the most important thing to positively affect it is to be real and approachable. Students won‟t always be happy with you. If you are challenging them and you are pushing them and they are not meeting it at that point there‟s frustration there. It‟s not only frustration between student and professor, but also students are frustrated with themselves. But if they know that you have their best interests at heart, then the underlying appreciation of each other is unquestionable. I think if you are real and approachable, are very clear about your expectations, but also a human being about understanding that progress doesn‟t happen in a straight line (it happens in peeks and jags) then that‟s the most successful recipe. There haven‟t been any specific things that I‟ve done that I feel like “Oh man, I‟ve really hurt the studio moral.” It tends to be if people are excited and you‟re excited then things are good.

Interviewer You are fairly active as a performer and travel a lot. Can you speak to balancing that with your teaching load? Has it been challenging in the past?

Nathan Nabb Yeah, of course. At some point you are giving up something and what I have done traditionally is given up free time. As you know, I was teaching at CCM [College Conservatory of Music at University of Cincinnati] and SFA for two years and still performing a lot. That was tough. That

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 was exceptionally tough. I tried my very best to build my schedule to where I was teaching four long days a week so that when I was gone to Cincinnati it would affect the student‟s lesson schedule as little as possible. However, a lot of the times when I‟m gone playing with orchestra, that rehearsal schedule might start on a Tuesday. Tuesdays or Wednesdays are typically when that rehearsal schedule starts. That means that I‟m scheduling and moving things around and again my students have been very flexible and very understanding with that.

I studied in two studios where the professors were very much in demand and they would sometimes be gone. To me, it was important to have professors out that were very active in the field, that were very respected, and that were still doing a lot of things because that meant that I was getting really top level information from a top level teacher and performer. That flexibility was important for me to have as a student. The other thing I will say about my schedule here is that I try to match my flexibility with my students. If they have something that they need to reschedule, I‟m not a stickler because look - I‟ve moved things around so I‟ll move things around for you too. Now that I‟m not doing CCM my schedule is a little bit less crazy and I have to move things around fewer times per year. But, it was always important to me that I try and get to a point where students felt like they were having their right number of lessons each semester and that they weren‟t getting short changed. I didn‟t want any of my activity outside of the university to impact how people felt about their studies here.

Interviewer In what ways has your teaching evolved or changed over time?

Nathan Nabb Everything has changed. I started to talk a little bit about it a few minutes ago, but when you first get out and you‟re teaching, your identity as a teacher is super, super closely tied to your own pedigree: where you studied and who you studied with, because that‟s been most of your experience. It has been on the other side of the desk as a student being taught.

I had a large private studio up in Chicago. Even if you are teaching like that, you still don‟t have a college studio to manage. Once you start that process…once you start teaching at college you realize wow…everybody comes to college with their own strengths and weaknesses, their own experiences and most of them are going to be different than yours. Way different than yours. You realize these great teachers that we studied with - we tend to have this idea that what they told us is what they teach, period, but what they told us is a microcosm of what they teach. Great teachers of course have a set of tools that they may apply to most students, but from there everything is personalized based upon the individual needs of the student. As a new teacher you have to get on your game and be flexible in your approach pretty quickly, because some people are visual learners, some people do better by doing and less talking, some people need explanation, and some people need demonstration. There‟s a lot to wrestle with. In a sense, my

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 teaching has become much more of a big tent in terms of how I address specific topics. Of course, the foundation of my approach is squarely in the Hemke and Richtmeyer camp, but I have certainly branched out to find other ways of addressing certain issues. One of the things I did after I got out of school was I really studied other teachers and their approaches of the saxophone. I studied a lot of the Rascher stuff, Rousseau stuff, and Sinta. I worked on the Voicing Book a lot. I worked on Saxophone High Tones. I read all of the Teal stuff. I really kind of tried to steep myself in all of the traditions because the truth is there are a lot of ways to play the saxophone really well. A lot. Some teaching techniques work really well for some people and very poorly for others. Sure, I have my own tradition, and my own approaches, and what I mostly identify with, but I brought-in a lot of teaching techniques from a lot of places - including other instruments. There are important teaching techniques I think that we get from flute and clarinet. I try to broaden my experiences and my approach as much as possible to capture as many people and get them to be the best musicians and the best saxophonist that they can be and I knew that I wasn‟t going to do that just based upon my experiences alone.

Interviewer Are there any specific teaching techniques or strategies you employed that didn‟t work out and had to change?

Nathan Nabb One of the things that I changed the most is that when I was in school I was always pushing tempo on my scales. Always. I think it‟s important that we work our scales up to a certain tempo, but I know that if we emphasize speed and tempo too quickly we can get away from our fundamentals. If we get to the point where our hands are out of position and we‟re not playing efficiently, then we won‟t develop the technique to play really quickly and efficiently because either our fingers are flying all over the place, we have tension in the wrist, or something else. I have this quote on my door from James Ehnes and I think this is really important. [Nabb gets up to read the quote on the outside of his office door] “If you are practicing for clarity, you‟ll build strength and strength will build speed but if you‟re practicing for speed then you‟re never going to build the strength that will lead to clarity.” That to me is kind of everything in a nutshell about my approach now. So one of the things I changed was I stopped emphasizing speed right away with students and went much more towards efficient proper technique leading to speed. That‟s my number one thing I changed.

Interviewer How important is recruitment to your studio and do you have active strategies to recruit new students?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Nathan Nabb I can tell you this through my administrative role. We are at exactly 476 undergrads. We are quite a bit larger than when you were here. We‟ve grown quite a bit. Obviously, UNT has a reputation for being a gigantic school of music, but if I had to guess, I‟d say we are pretty similar in terms numbers of undergrads with Tech. Tech has a much larger graduate program than we do. The other thing that those two schools have is that those are bigger universities.

When I first got here I reached out to many band directors, many teachers and really kind of tried to lay the groundwork for establishing some pipelines and I have. I don‟t go to a lot of band halls anymore, though I do occasionally. Now, I tend to use social media a lot and people are more aware of my studio at this point. We‟ve had a lot success and a lot of really strong players from great programs coming here. Those students know each other and talk, and I‟ve tried to be present in different ways. One of the other things I‟ve tried to do is I‟ve started recording pieces of standard repertoire and uploading them onto YouTube. So far I only have Creston but I started doing this last March, and Milhaud and Bozza Aria will be up soon. One of the things that I‟ve realized is that when I would ask my students after I‟ve assigned them a piece: “okay, have you listened to any recordings?” “What recordings have you listened to?” And the very first answer everybody always gives: “Uhh...the first one on YouTube…” Instead of getting frustrated with that, I mean YouTube‟s not going away, I decided to start to try and upload high quality audio and video performances of these pieces to give younger students something to watch and listen to. Often times the recording that they‟ll find are somebody playing in their high school auditorium or a junior/senior recital, and those are great for what they are, but I am trying to establish a resource on the SFA YouTube channel where people can go and listen to these recordings. In Texas, it‟s pretty popular to record the all-state etudes and I‟ve been doing that.

My point behind bringing the YouTube presence up is that that creates awareness, a different kind of awareness of the saxophone studio here, through offering a resource for younger players. While it‟s not directly like reaching out and recruiting in the traditional sense, I think it‟s important that as teachers now we meet students where they are, and where they are is online, and on YouTube and in those kind of media platforms. So that‟s a big component to my strategy at the moment.

Interviewer When you say going out to band halls, what were you doing exactly at first?

Nathan Nabb Giving clinics. Working with the saxophone section. Sometimes it‟s on fundamentals. A lot of times it‟s on all-state etudes and things like that.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Interviewer Can you talk a little bit about the role of graduate assistants at SFA and their role within your studio?

Nathan Nabb Sure. As you know I have a slightly different way of teaching lessons. I pair up an upperclassmen or a graduate student with an underclassmen for repertoire lessons. You are playing for half an hour and observing for half an hour of that. This also means that there is a separate technique lesson. The upperclassmen and graduate students traditionally have technique with me and the underclassmen have technique with the graduate assistant. The reason why I decided to go that route is because it‟s the case in a lot of schools where younger players or less advanced players, and in some places it's even music education students in general, won‟t get to study with the professor. Now, that wouldn't be the case here because we are almost entirely music education, but I don‟t want any student to feel like I am pushing them aside. The fact that I institutionalized freshman and sophomores all take technique with a graduate student also means that everybody studies with me. So nobody has the chance to feel like they're being short changed because they‟re not studying with the professor. I wanted to make sure everybody got their time with me both being taught and observing. That‟s the reason for that. The teaching assistant teaches technique to freshman and sophomores, and then, depending on studio numbers and number of quartets, they may also coach a younger quartet and the saxophone portion of woodwind methods. Those are kind of the three responsibilities the teaching assistant has here.

Interviewer What are the advantages that the graduate assistants have leaving here when looking for a job?

Nathan Nabb It‟s a unique format. One of the things that I do is that I have a pretty standardized freshman technique packet that they are working out of. Everybody works out of it. Meaning, as a ground floor, here‟s what everybody does. I have it broken down by every two weeks. By the end of the full year, they've gotten through the entire technique packet. The first two weeks is C scales: C major, all forms of minor and also diminished and whole tone scales starting off of C, and chromatic. They work on those for the first two weeks and get them up to sixteenth notes at 112 full range. Also there are etudes in that key. I don‟t traditionally give them Lacour or anything like that in their first year or something that‟s going to work on the whole tone or diminished stuff. It‟s typically Ferlings, Berbiguier, or I occasionally use some etudes from the Lamotte which is an oboe book. I give them etudes that are in the key they are working on. The first two weeks they are working on C major or C minor etudes and the third and fourth week then they are working in F. I go in fourths. By the end of the full year, they‟ve worked all of way through all of their scales. Again major, all forms of minor, whole tone, diminished, chromatic starting on every tonic and worked on etudes in all of those. From there we also diagnose this student has

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 issues with articulation and so I‟ll give some supplemental exercises for articulation. If somebody has problems in the upper range, they are too tight and their voicing‟s off, give them some of the Rousseau book front key exercises to fix that. So in addition to that everybody kind of gets an individualized approach based on their strengths and weaknesses. Then the sophomores it becomes a little bit more free form. We go into intervallic studies. The etudes get harder. We do some of the Samyn, some of the Lacour, maybe some of the Londeix as well. We start to integrate altissimo and things like that. So there is structure but there is also room for the TA some individuality in terms of assessing and determining what else that the student‟s need. Of course I am always following up with the TA and getting progress reports, trying to figure out who is doing well and who needs work on whatever else. We will compare notes from out private lessons and technique lessons and kind of see where we are. I try to give the TA a lot of autonomy. I‟m not always looking over their shoulder but we are also always comparing notes and going back and forth making sure we are on the same page and stuff. It‟s also the case that occasionally a student will take their preparation level for their lessons more seriously than their technique. I'll have to follow up with that student and remind them that their lesson grade is not just in repertoire. I don‟t know if that answers your question fully but that‟s the experience of the TA here.

Interviewer Do you ever find there to be a need for coaching the graduate assistants specifically on how to teach?

Nathan Nabb The guidance normally comes from our meetings where we‟re going back and forth talking and comparing notes. Things like “if this person has this issue I might say this is how you might want to consider addressing this.” I tend not to teach the teacher in front of the student because I want the student to see us both as teachers - not that anybody is looking at it from a “what can I get away with perspective.” If I were to teach my current assistant how to teach someone while they are there it‟s a bit of an odd situation because it puts the assistant in both a student and teacher environment. I want the students to be able to see the assistant as a teacher as well, so most of the time we will compare notes individually. The one time I violate that policy is in studio class. As you remember we will have somebody play and the first thing I do is I ask students for comments, because I think it‟s important that we learn how to speak effectively and critically about music performance. There really isn't a class that teaches that. If somebody raises their hand in class and gives a general comment, I‟ll challenge them on it and get them to dig deeper and find a more specific and effective way of saying the same thing. You know “be more musical” is not a good comment. “Use more air” doesn‟t really mean a lot. You have to put some feet on those ideas. That‟s when I use that time to help teach not only the student that‟s up in front of the class but I‟ll also teach the people how to speak effectively.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Interviewer I asked this in the questionnaire but I would like to ask it again. In what ways do you find what you do as a saxophone professor important or significant in the larger scheme of things?

Nathan Nabb Now I‟m trying to remember the answer I gave you. There are so many directions that answer can go. I think this also applies to music too, so bear with me here on this. I think people get into the arts at the root level because of communication. If you are a mathematician and you go into math, to some degree you may be seeking to solve a problem. You may have a set of interests you want to reach and I don‟t remember what your interests were. [I started my college career working on a degree in mathematics which I obtained before working on my music education degree at UNT] You may have a goal. The more generic goal is you are going to become the best mathematician you can be and be plugged into an engineering firm or whatever else to help create something. A scientist is going to become a better, more effective scientist that may ultimately solve a problem. When you get into the arts I think at the root of it is communication and connection, which I think ultimately makes you a better human being. So when we are teaching in the arts, what we are really trying to teach is communication - trying to reach people. I think when you can do that effectively you can really change people‟s lives in a profound way. When you major in music, or theater, or the visual arts, there is a root, a seed that grows into a more profound thing-what you have done is you have given yourself the skills to communicate on a different level than we do on a daily basis in just talking to each other. I think that when you can do that, when you can reach people on different levels...boy that‟s a meaningful and impactful thing. That goes to being a band director too. When we are working with a group of people, if the collective whole is greater than the sum of its parts, you have created something with those people that inspires. That can inspire people to go out and do any number of things. What‟s important to me is not that each one of my student‟s goes out and becomes the best-I don‟t expect every student I have to go out and be the best saxophonist in the world. What I expect is for them to get to a different level than they were when they got here and to understand music and the arts in a different way. Because when you do that, you go out and you create and inspire that in other people. That creates a sense of community, not just around the arts, but in your own world, whatever community you then live in. I have students who went into musicology, students who have done all kinds of things and I just hope that what they get when they leave here is that more than anything else.

Interviewer I think that wraps up what all of the questions I had for you today. Is there any last minute advice you have for students like me about to graduate before the end?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Nathan Nabb The last minute advice would be what I already said in the sense of you got to find your own voice. At Morehead, when I got that job at 25, I was young. Young. Younger than I should have been hired as a tenure track professor, because there is so much you still have to learn in the world. But I‟m very grateful that they hired me. If I had to guess, the things that stood out on my resume were probably two things: Debra Richtmeyer was generous and kind enough to hire me as her sabbatical replacement at Illinois, so I had university teaching experience on my resume already. And, I also had a lot of experience playing with high level orchestras. Now that‟s me- that doesn‟t mean that everybody else should go to try and do that because again, like I said, if we try and look like everybody else in terms of our skills and our experiences then, we don‟t stand out. You got to find your own voice and find what you have to offer and build your approach around that.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Observation Notes: Dr. Nathan Nabb

I observed an all undergraduate quartet coaching of music education and performance majors while visiting SFA. The quartet was working on movement eight of Songs for the Coming

Day by David Maslanka in preparation for the MTNA competition. The coaching took place inside of Cole Recital Hall inside the SFA music building. The quartet had reserved rehearsal time in that room for their coaching. Dr. Nabb was on sabbatical during the time of the observation and the interview I conducted during my visit to SFA. The hall was dimly lit. Only the stage lights were on as if a concert was occurring. I arrived about 10 minutes early of the scheduled coaching time. The quartet members were already set up on stage standing in an arc formation warming up. The stage was set up at half-stage with sound wall behind the students allowing approximately 10 or so feet between the back sound walls and the edge of the stage.

The stage is elevated about three or so feet off of the ground with the front rows of audience seating looking up to the performers. At the scheduled time of the coaching, Dr. Nabb entered from the back of the hall with clipboard, score, and coffee in hand.

Dr. Nabb took a seat in the front row while the quartet plays through the entire movement for him. While listening, Dr. Nabb would conduct to himself and tap his finger occasionally during technically challenging spots for the quartets or areas of tempo fluctuation. After they finish Dr. Nabb stood up and walked to the front of the stage in front of the quartet but stayed on the floor. He instructed that they would go back to the beginning to address “a couple of things.”

He used colorful analogies to describe issues of their performance as a listener. For example, there was a phrase the soprano player was breathing in the middle of and while Dr. Nabb was addressing it he expressed “it was like a dagger in the heart.” Dr. Nabb always addressed each student by name rather than saying “soprano,” “alto,” “tenor,” or “bari” while working with the

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 quartet. This combined with the amount of humor from both the students and Dr. Nabb and perhaps even the lighting and stage environment gave the coaching a relaxed and intimate feel.

Even though he did not have a saxophone with him, Dr. Nabb employed a vast amount of demonstration. When addressing cues, Dr. Nabb imitated holding a soprano saxophone and a baritone saxophone to show the students exactly what he wanted. He often included singing mid-sentence. At one point when trying to demonstrate the effect he wanted the quartet to move away from, Dr. Nabb said “it feels like…(singing)…you know?” When describing the musical phrasing of a different section, Dr.

Nabb drew various shapes in the air to represent what he wanted the quartet to try and do. Dr. Nabb also approached issues of the quartet’s performance as challenges inherently written into the score. A few times there were some tricky tuning challenges given the voicing of the chord to witch Dr. Nabb explained “balance will help in tuning.” Another section of the piece he explained “contemporary composers can write things that make it sound like you messed up so you have got to be purposeful in your playing.”

Every time they successfully worked out tuning, technical issues, or musicality, Dr. Nabb had the quartet go back the repeatedly play that newly adjusted section several times. They did about six or seven repetitions each time there were asked to do this. Dr. Nabb would not move on until they got every detail of the things addressed right in the performance of each section. As they were nearing the end of their hour of coaching the students asked Dr. Nabb if they could run through the entire movement. They did not have enough time but Dr. Nabb agreed and let them play as much as they could. The coaching ended abruptly at the end of the hour as the next group or class that had the hall entered for their reserved hour in the hall. Dr. Nabb briefly told everyone good job and to keep in touch as he headed up to his office with me for the interview.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Dr. Eric Nestler

Dr. Eric Nestler has been the Professor of Saxophone at the University of North Texas

(UNT) in Denton, Texas from 1992 to present7. He earned his Bachelor of Music Education from

Susquehanna University from 1982-1986, studying with Donald Beckie. He earned his Master of

Music in Woodwind Instruments from Indiana University from 1986-1988, studying with

Eugene Rousseau. He also earned his Doctor of Music Literature and Performance in Woodwind

Instruments with minors in Music History and Music Theory from Indiana University from

1988-1994.

Email Questionnaire Transcript: Dr. Eric Nestler

Background

Where were you born? Sellersville, Pennsylvania.

Which cities and states did you grow up or live in prior to attending college? Green Lane, Pennsylvania.

At what age did you become involved in music? 9

Do you have any family members involved in music or musical careers? Yes.

What musical activities were you involved in prior to college such as band, piano lessons, etc.? Public School Band Church/Community Orchestra Piano Lessons Saxophone Lessons Clarinet Lessons

Who were your early music teachers prior to attending college? Vincent Bercher.

7 University of North Texas College of Music, “Eric Nestler,” University of North Texas, accessed April 1, 2018, http://music.unt.edu/faculty-and-staff/eric-nestler.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

How did you choose to start playing saxophone? My father owned a saxophone.

Which Universities did you attend, what years were you in attendance and which degrees have you earned? Doctor of Music Literature and Performance - Indiana University: (1988-1994) Major: Woodwind Instruments Minors: Music History and Music Theory (with High Distinction) Dissertation Title: A Performance Analysis of the Quartet for Saxophones by Alexander Glazunov, the Saxophone Quartet by Florent Schmitt, and Quartet Nr. 2, Variations and Cadenzas by M. William Karlins MM - Indiana University: (1986-1988) Major: Major: Woodwind Instruments; Cognate: Jazz Studies (with High Distinction) BM - Susquehanna University: (1982-1986) Major: Music Education (Summa cum laude) Supporting Areas of Emphasis: Saxophone

Did you always want a career in music and if not, what else did you consider? Yes

When did you decide to pursue a career as a professor of saxophone? Freshmen year in undergraduate school.

Who do you consider to be your primary teachers in saxophone? Eugene Rousseau at Indiana University and Donald Beckie at Susquehanna University.

Who are some other influential teachers and what did they teach from your time in college? James Campbell, Indiana University School of Music, (August 1988 - May 1993). Specialty: Clarinet Location: Bloomington, IN Sidney Rosenberg, Indiana University School of Music, (June 1987 - May 1993). Specialty: Bassoon Eugene Rousseau, Indiana University School of Music, (June 1986 - May 1993). Specialty: Classical Saxophone Location: Bloomington, IN Howard Klug, Indiana University School of Music, (September 1991 - October 1991). Specialty: Clarinet Location: Bloomington, IN Iwan Roth, Indiana University School of Music, (September 1991). Specialty: Classical Saxophone Location: Bloomington, IN Avraham Galper, Indiana University School of Music, (September 1990 - December 1990). Specialty: Clarinet Location: Bloomington, IN

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Daniel Deffayet, Indiana University School of Music, (September 1989 - October 1989). Specialty: Classical Saxophone Location: Bloomington, IN David N. Baker, Indiana University School of Music, (August 1987 - May 1988). Specialty: Jazz Studies Location: Bloomington, IN Suzanne Duffy, Indiana University School of Music, (August 1987 - December 1987). Specialty: Flute Location: Bloomington, IN Kenneth Fischer, Indiana University School of Music, (September 1987 - November 1987). Specialty: Classical Saxophone Location: Bloomington, IN Michael Erickson, Indiana University School of Music, (June 1987 - August 1987). Specialty: Oboe Location: Bloomington, IN Rodney Ackman, Indiana University School of Music, (May 1987 - August 1987). Specialty: Bassoon Location: Bloomington, IN Laura Goetz, Indiana University School of Music, (January 1987 - May 1987). Specialty: Oboe Location: Bloomington, IN Earl Bates, Indiana University School of Music, (June 1986 - May 1987). Specialty: Clarinet Location: Bloomington, IN Casey Kovacik, Indiana University School of Music, (August 1986 - December 1986). Specialty: Flute Location: Bloomington, IN Ann Fenlason, Indiana University School of Music, (June 1986 - August 1986). Specialty: Flute Location: Bloomington, IN Donald Beckie, Susquehanna University, (August 1982 - May 1986). Specialty: Saxophone, Clarinet, Oboe, Bassoon Location: Selinsgrove, PA

Do you have any educational training outside of music? No.

What jobs did you have during college? While at Susquehanna University, I taught in the Preparatory Program. While at Indiana, I was an associate instructor for four years (two years teaching woodwind techniques to music education majors and two years teaching written theory to freshmen and sophomores).

When did you start looking for University jobs? 1988, the final year of my MM degree.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

What has been your employment history since after college (position titles, place, dates)? Professor of Music/Saxophone at the University of North Texas: (August 1992 - Present) Associate Chair of the Instrumental Division at the University of North Texas College of Music - Instrumental Studies Division: (August 2010 - May 2014) Faculty Member (Summer Faculty) at the University of New Brunswick - Centre for Musical Arts: (1993 - 2005) Associate Instructor of Music Theory at Indiana University: (1990 - 1992) Instructor of Woodwinds at Vincennes University: (1990 - 1991) Associate Instructor of Woodwind Techniques at Indiana University: (1986 - 1988)

Can you describe the application process for your current job and the steps you took to obtain it? Yes.

Lessons

How are your lessons with Undergraduates structured (How long, often, one on one v partner, etc.)? At UNT, lessons are 50-60 minutes in length and occur weekly. Private lessons are individual, not group.

Are lessons structured differently for graduate études students and if so how? No. Graduate students might not need to study études and/or scales. Typically, graduate students spend more time learning and performing literature.

What are the practice expectations for your students? Students progress rapidly with daily practice. I suggest students have a “balanced diet” when practicing: tone (dynamic control, embouchure, air, dynamic control and intonation, vibrato) technique (scales, rhythm, and articulation), basic musicianship (learning études) and repertoire (usually, one intermediate level piece and one standard).

What are your goals for your students both short term and long term? Students are unique individuals and have very specific needs, hopes, and goals for the future. I cannot generalize too much regarding this topic other than it is my hope for students to become independently thinking musicians and saxophonists equipped with the skills (musical and technical) to solve problems on their own. It is also my hope that students, both undergraduate and graduate, develop a sense of intellectual curiosity.

How much do you tailor lessons to individual student needs? Each student has individual needs, both musical and technical. I don‟t believe in a “program” to which everyone has to adhere. Yet, everyone needs to have developed certain skills (i.e. perform with an acceptable tone with accurate intonation) and have performed certain standard repertoire (i.e. Ibert, Creston, Glazunov, Heiden, etc.).

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

How do your expectations change when considering a student’s classification (freshman, senior etc.) and their individual ability level? I don‟t understand this question.

What are some common problems you see with students in your lessons and how do you address them? My students do not usually have “problems,” per se. Rather some students‟ skills are not as well refined as other students‟ skills or a set of idealist skills. As a pedagogue, it is my responsibility to recognize students‟ various challenges and then provide advice addressing those issues, musical and/or technical. As a generalization, however, many students have not had the opportunity to perform on a regular basis, other than large ensemble performances. At UNT, this is remedied through weekly departmental recital performances. I strongly encourage my students to perform often.

What are some teaching tools you like to employ and how did you develop them? In order to stay focused during a lesson and individual practice sessions, I ask students to maintain a notebook. During a lesson, I take notes while the student performs. We address various issues so that when the student returns to the practice room, s/he an review what was accomplished during the lesson.

What do you work on in lessons or what is the balance of repertoire, technique, scales, etude’s, etc.? Each student is different and has individual needs. One student may need to give more attention to tone development while others may need more focus on technique. The balance changes from week to week. Some students need to focus entirely on literature. Balance of these areas changes as the needs of the student changes.

How do you decide repertoire for your students to work on in lessons? The student and the teacher consult regarding repertoire choice. Students‟ needs and experiences are considered and the teacher might make recommendations. As the student becomes more educated, the student may choose. One must recognize the study of standard repertoire is essential regardless of instrumentation or age.

How do you decide which scales or études your students will work on? The student and the teacher consult regarding scale and etude choice. Students‟ needs and experience are considered and the teacher might make recommendations. As the student becomes more educated, the student may choose. Basic knowledge of scales (major, minor, symmetrical and patterns) is essential for the development of building blocks for sufficient technique. Basic études include Ferling, Bozza, Lacour, and Karg-Elert.

What repertoire do you consider to be core to study for undergraduates and for graduate students? See the top ten lists in the saxophone hand book.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

How do you use, interpret and assign grades to your students? Grading for undergraduate saxophone at UNT is based upon three criteria: weekly attendance and preparation; the performance of a scales/ études jury; and, the performance of a solo jury (with piano). Once a grade has been determined, recital attendance is considered. Student attendance at weekly departmentals, faculty recitals, guest recitals, and student recitals are collated. If a student does not attend a certain number of recital programs, the final letter grade is lowered by one. (At UNT, there are no “pluses” and “minuses.”)

Are there any competitions you have your students participate in and if so, which ones? Given the intense subjectivity of musicianship/artistry and the determination of performance level, I tend not to push competitions for my students. Yet, if a student is interested and inspired to participate in competitions, then, I will support them. I require all my students to participate in the UNT Concerto Competition.

How much time in lessons is dedicated to jury preparation? Every student is different and requires an individualized approach to learning repertoire for juries. Each student needs to dedicate an appropriate amount of time to learning the jury piece and will be different for each student. In the end, I need to hear each student perform the jury selection, without piano, first. Then, I need to hear at least one complete performance of it with piano prior to the jury examination/performance. Ideally, the student would also perform the jury piece at a department recital.

What are the jury requirements for your students? Please see the saxophone handbook.

How are juries structured? At UNT, students are enrolled in MUAM lessons (people who are performance majors), MUAC lessons (people who are either music education majors or jazz studies majors), or MUAS lessons (non-majors). Students enrolled in MUAM lessons perform the solo jury before a committee comprised of the woodwind faculty. Each student performs approximately 10 minutes of music. Students enrolled in MUAC lessons perform a solo jury (or jazz transcription if they are a jazz studies major who successfully passed the upper division examination) before a committee comprised of the saxophone faculty and teaching fellows. Students enrolled in MUAS lessons do not need to perform a jury. Regardless of designation, all undergraduates perform a techniques jury (including scales, patterns, and études). Graduate students in classical saxophone need not perform a techniques jury.

Who sits in, observes, and/or has say in the outcome of a student’s jury performance? See above. The major professor determines the grade.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Quartet

How are quartet coachings structured (How long, often, etc.)? Once students are placed in a quartet, a teacher is assigned. Either one of my TFs or I will serve as a coach. Quartets are expected to rehearse two times a week for 90 minutes each time (or three times a week for an hour each time). Additionally, each quartet is to have a one-hour coaching. Each quartet is expected to perform during at least one saxophone departmental recital per semester.

What are the rehearsal and practice expectations for your students? See above.

How do you decide quartet members and instrumentation? Ideally, quartets form themselves. This usually yields the best and most successful approach. In some cases, I solicit people to complete quartets that don‟t have enough members.

Is there a course registration requirement or is quartet strictly extracurricular? MUCM 35/5520, section 501. This is not extracurricular. In fact, people enrolled in MUAM (performance majors) must be in quartet each semester.

What considerations go into deciding repertoire for the quartet? Typically, the quartets choose their own literature. When the quartet does not know which piece to choose, I suggestion appropriate level/quality repertoire. Most students need experience in learning and performing standard quartet repertoire. Skill and experience levels must be considered so the quartet can learn appropriate literature.

Are there any competitions you have quartets participate in and if so which ones? Given the intense subjectivity of musicianship/artistry and determination of performance level, I tend not to push competitions. If a quartet is interested and inspired to participate, then, I will support them. Some students have participated in the MTNA and NASA competitions.

What are some common problems you see in quartet and how do you address them? Often, students are unfamiliar with the importance of score study. Knowing how their part contributes to the whole of the composition, either melodically or harmonically, is essential. This skill requires considerable practice and refinement.

What are some teaching tools you commonly employ for quartet and how did you develop them? Quartet is an ideal situation to instruct issues of intonation. A useful tool for learning intonation is the utilization of common practice chord progressions. Students in quartet practice patterns such as I – IV – V – I, and transpose the pattern to all twelve keys. This helps the students‟ understanding of intonation.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Saxophone Choir

Do you have any large saxophone ensembles at your school? Given the many and varied ensemble requirements at UNT, having a saxophone ensemble that regularly rehearses and performs is not feasible.

Studio Class

How many students do you currently have in your studio (undergraduate, masters, and doctorates)? At UNT, there are approximately 80 people enrolled in saxophone lessons and nine people teach saxophone: there are two professors of saxophone (one jazz and one classical) and seven teaching fellows (graduate saxophone students – usually DMA students, but occasionally MM students) who teach. Professor Leali organizes and oversees the education of all students enrolled in jazz saxophone, even those students who study with TFs. I organize and oversee the education of all students enrolled in classical saxophone. The saxophone department services students enrolled at UNT majoring in music education, classical composition, jazz composition/arranging, jazz performance, multiple woodwind instrument performance, and/or classical performance. We teach freshmen through doctoral degree students.

Currently, my studio has the following consistency: 7 DMA saxophone students 1 DMA woodwind (with saxophone as the primary instrument) student 1 GAC (graduate artist certificate) 1 PhD (classical composition major with saxophone as a related field) 3 MM 4 Juniors 2 Sophomores 4 Freshmen

I have approximately 8 other DMA students who have completed lessons but have not yet graduated. At UNT there are considerably more saxophonists enrolled in lessons. Here is an approximate breakdown for all:

DMA jazz saxophone performance – 2 DMA woodwinds – 1 DMA classical saxophone performance – 6 GAC classical saxophone performance – 1 PhD classical saxophone related field – 1 MM classical saxophone performance – 3 MM jazz saxophone performance – 7 MM woodwind instrument performance – 1 Undergraduate performance major – 6 Undergraduate music education major – 18 Undergraduate jazz studies major – 45 Undergraduate composition major – 1

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Bachelor of Arts degree – 1

What is the audition process for undergraduate, masters, and doctoral students? On three separate days during the spring semester, people wishing to be accepted into the UNT College of Music may audition. Auditions are live, although, we accept recorded video auditions on a case by case basis. Undergraduate classical performance majors and music education majors perform a 10-minute audition featuring standard repertoire. UNT provides a list of possible selections/repertoire. There is a short sight reading component. Undergraduate jazz majors perform a selection from the Omnibook as well as three tunes, two of their choice and one required tune. Master‟s degree students applying for classical saxophone are required to perform a 15-minute audition and DMA students are required to perform a 30-minute audition. Performing with piano is optional. MM and DMA jazz students audition for the jazz faculty, not the saxophone faculty. Requirements are posted on the jazz studies website.

How much say did you have in the audition process and materials for these students? Professor Leali and I have complete control over the audition process.

How much say do you have in who is accepted? Professor Leali and I have complete control over the audition process.

What considerations do you make when deciding acceptance for students at each level (undergraduate, masters, doctors)? Students have to perform well, this is obvious. But, they must also demonstrate a willingness to learn new ideas. Some students already know all the answers and even if they have some competency, they might not be the best quality student. GPA and class rankings are considerations. Recommendations from appropriate people are also considered.

What is the structure of your studio classes (how long, how often, what happens during this time, etc.)? At UNT, there are two saxophone classes called departmentals. The classical saxophone departmental occurs every Monday at noon in the recital hall. The jazz saxophone departmental occurs every Thursday at noon. Each class is a performance based class and serves as an opportunity for students to perform repertoire with piano. During the Monday class, I may present a clinic, lecture, or performance. On occasion, the teaching fellows give presentations. Generally, however, the Monday departmental is a place and time for students to perform with piano, unaccompanied literature, chamber music, and quartet.

How would you describe your current studio, considering those saxophone students as a community? The saxophone studio at UNT is international in consistency. We have students from the US, Asia, South America and Europe. While I would like to describe it as a “tight-knit” community, given the number of students, the varied backgrounds, and the age differences (students‟ ages have ranged from 17 to 55), it is not realistic. It is still my hope that it becomes “tight knit.” As there are approximately 80 students enrolled in applied saxophone, the students “group” themselves. My perception is that this occurs according to age, major, and ensemble placement.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

What influences do you feel you have over this community or are you able to influence its development at all? I try to be a role model, as does my colleague, for all of the saxophone students at UNT as a musician, pedagogue, saxophonist, and person. Everything I do at UNT and in the professional saxophone community is an attempt to positively influence the development of the UNT saxophone studio.

Teaching Philosophy

Has your teaching changed or evolved over the years? If so can you describe some of the changes and why they happened? After 25 years of teaching at UNT, I have learned that students can‟t change everything all at once during a lesson or after a jury or even in a semester of study. Therefore, I try to be selective regarding the information I give students in a lesson. I try to make my advice as meaningful and impactful to the student at any given time and not to overwhelm the student with an abundance of suggestions and information.

Who do you consider to be your most influential teachers and in what ways were they influential? Dr. Donald Beckie – he opened the door. Dr. Eugene Rousseau – I try to teach the way he taught; I try to interact with people the way I perceived that he did; and I attempt to achieve the level of artistry he achieved effortlessly and with casual brilliance.

Are there colleagues that have impacted your teaching and if so how? At UNT, I have many excellent colleagues in the woodwind area and instrumental division. Observing their artistry, musicianship and dedication to their students is continually inspirational and awe inspiring to me. It is my hope to match their level of dedication and zeal.

Have there been any major obstacles or setbacks in your career and if so would you mind elaborating on some of them? In 2009, I was diagnosed with dystonia. It ended my career as a performer. For an elaboration, please see the article published in the Saxophone Symposium, vol. 70.

How much personal control do you feel you have in your teaching structures versus the control the university has or the degree program? UNT allows the faculty of the College of Music to have freedom in teaching style and curriculum within the saxophone studio. Yet, it is very rigid with regard to the degree program – there is little freedom and expert opinion is often disregarded, especially in regard to graduate level major field education.

Do you have any non-musical influences that have impacted your teaching in any way and if so, what and how? I like to cook. Sometimes I use food related analogies to create and guide a student to a musical point.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

How do you weigh being a performer versus being a teacher versus being a researcher and is there another role you consider yourself to be a part of professionally? At UNT, faculty are required to be effective pedagogues, creatively active through performances, publications, presentations, lectures, etc., and involved in university/college service. One must be able to achieve all at a high level and with appropriate balance.

Do you consider any of these roles to be more important than another and how do you balance these in your own career? It is difficult to balance teaching, creative activities and service; but, at UNT, we are expected to find the appropriate balance. This often changes from semester to semester and year to year.

What sort of different challenges have you seen your teaching career? At UNT, I see many talented students who demonstrate musical potential and inspiration. It is difficult to say “no” to talented students who might wish to attend UNT and study with me. This results in my accepting too many students into my personal studio. Then, I become overwhelmed. Balancing teaching, performing, and administration can be challenging. When I am required to be overly active in administration (i.e., providing leadership in committees, etc.), usually, my teaching suffers. Therefore, I try not to let this happen.

What challenges do you see for saxophonists currently pursuing a university teaching position? What advice do you have for them? The challenge is obvious: there are very few jobs available and very many, highly qualified and talented saxophonists and musicians. My advice to students is to be as versatile as possible and find something that sets one apart from all of the DMA saxophone students at all of the other universities that produce highly qualified people, musicians, and saxophonists. I ask the following question of my students, “What makes you special?”

What are some things you have learned from your students, or experience that you could not have learned from a university course? Interaction with other people (students, colleagues, parents, other musicians, administrators) is not something one learns in a class. This skill comes from experience and watching others who do it well.

In what ways do you consider what you do to be important? Music is for everyone. I think saxophone could be for everyone. I try to help interested people perform music in an artistic way with a saxophone and hopefully, share it with others.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

In Person Interview Transcription: Dr. Eric Nestler

Interviewer How did you hear about the job opening at UNT and what were you doing at the time?

Eric Nestler Well I was a student at Indiana near the end of my degree. It was advertised in CMS, College of Music Society and at the time the School of Music at Indiana also published a list of all the jobs that were available in music in higher education. I saw that it was available. It was open in 1990 or 1991 but they didn't fill the job. I had applied and I wasn‟t one of the candidates but then they reopened the next year it so I reapplied. I was then one of the two that they asked to come down.

Interviewer Do you mind walking through the audition and application process? What kind of recordings did you send in?

Eric Nestler They used cassette tapes at that time. I had a recording of my last doctoral recital. I played Denisov Sonata, Schmitt Legende, and Dahl Concerto but I reversed the order for the recording. I put Dahl first knowing that anyone listening to it wouldn‟t listen to the entire thing and I wanted to put something dramatic right away. Then what was the next question?

Interviewer What was the whole application process?

Eric Nestler I wrote a letter of application and sent it to the interim dean at the time Stephen Farish and sent my resume. John Scott, Chair of the Instrumental Division, called me on the phone in March and asked if I was still interested in coming down for an interview. I said yes. I bought a plane ticket and started practicing real hard again. I was practicing FYI. Then I came down on April 5th. I met Steve Harlos in the morning. We ran through the Dahl once. I also played a piece on soprano, Telemann Sonata in C minor. We ran through that once. I had an unaccompanied piece, the Bonneau Caprice en Forme de Valse. So I started with the Telemann, then I played the Bonneau, then I played the Dahl. That was at 9 a.m. Then at 9:45 it was over. I had maybe some time off. As I recall, I met some people and I had to go to several committees. I remember I met the personal affairs committee at the time. Then I met the people on the interview committee, the search committee, probably had lunch down at the faculty lounge which no longer exists in the Union. Then I think I had the afternoon off. For some reason I was overnighted. I couldn‟t meet the dean until the next day. On Tuesday, I met the dean and maybe one other committee and then flew out. I was actually expecting a phone call from another university on a Thursday. I think it was at 3 o‟clock in the afternoon. The phone rang but it wasn‟t the other university, it was John

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Scott and he offered me the job. It was actually the dean, I think the dean offered me the job and I accepted obviously immediately.

Interviewer Was there an Interview when you were here visiting?

Eric Nestler Right. So I met with the interview, the search committee and I also met with the personal affairs committee and I met with the dean and I had dinner with John Scott. Jim Riggs picked me up at the airport so that was kind of the interview too. Jim Riggs also took me back to the airport.

Interviewer Do you remember any interview questions or responses that you gave?

Eric Nestler Let‟s see...I was teaching Theory at Indiana at the time and Joan Groom asked me how I teach theory classes. So I told her what I did. At the time we used overhead projectors which are probably not even used anymore. I said I liked to use transparencies to write on and take notes so that students can see. Jim Riggs asked me what mouthpiece I played. We talked about mouthpieces a little bit. One of the committee members asked me if I was married, which you are not supposed to do that. I‟m not sure I can remember any other questions.

Interviewer Obviously you got the job, but knowing what you know now is there anything you would have done differently during the application process?

Eric Nestler For this job? Would I have done anything differently?

Interviewer Yeah.

Eric Nestler I don‟t know that I could answer that. I don‟t know that I would. Going back to that age I think I was ambitious and hungry to find employment. I don‟t think I would do anything different.

Interviewer In what ways do you see the job application process for current graduating students has changed?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Eric Nestler My impression is that there are many more people who apply for very few jobs. It‟s always been few jobs available but now there are just great, wonderful saxophone players at every university - not just the big ones anymore. There are DMA students at every university that can play great and expressive, they‟re articulate, and they get straight A‟s. I think that's maybe one of the big changes. Maybe it was always that way too and I didn‟t realize it but it seems like there are a lot of applicants now - even more for very few jobs. In the ways that the application process has changed is now everything is online and before you always sent in hard copies and just cassette tapes. The internet – gosh, the internet has changed everything of course. There were no websites. Now everything is a link. You know? You just go on the web and find whatever information you need. All of the recordings are now online. Everything's online. Interviews are done over Skype. I don‟t even think I had a phone interview. I might have but I don‟t think I did. You at least have a phone interview now I think and also a Skype interview.

Interviewer Considering how competitive it is - you were talking about the high level of saxophone students and their ability to play - do you have any advice or suggestions for someone graduating now and trying to get a job that they could work on to put them ahead?

Eric Nestler Everyone‟s a great player and we assume that you‟re a great player. Have a skill that sets you apart from somebody who is like you at another university - something that makes you special. I couldn‟t tell you what that is because everyone has their own special gift in addition to being a saxophonist. I think you have to have a plan B. There are so many fabulous saxophone players. You need to have something extra special.

Interviewer In addition to the activities of the core curriculum for a typical DMA student (going to lessons, taking theory classes, participating in quartet, and band) are there any other activities outside of school that you would recommend students try to involve themselves in?

Eric Nestler One has to make one‟s own opportunities and if you can find places to perform, you should do it. Perform as often as you can solo and in quartet. Although really solo I think is important. If you can find outside venues, outside of the university I think that‟s really wise. Being involved in NASA I think is very good. If you can get to the World Saxophone Congress, I think that‟s good. If you can participate in a competition, I think that‟s terrific. If you win a competition, that‟s terrific also of course. There seems to be more opportunities now than 30 years ago for those kinds of things, like Londeix Competition, Dinant, and even the World Saxophone Congresses seem easier to get to or maybe I just wasn‟t paying attention as much. When you are a student

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 you are paying a lot of money to be a student and get good grades so traveling halfway around the world is really difficult.

Interviewer You had mentioned it in your initial responses about your article on Dystonia and the challenges you had personally faced. Have you seen anything like that with any of your students?

Eric Nestler Occasionally.

Interviewer Are there ways you try to deal with that?

Eric Nestler My first response is do not play through the pain if there‟s pain. With Dystonia there is no pain and you just don‟t know. I guess the phrase that I use when I talk about it is “if something feels weird” (and I define weird as unusual, not normal) “if you are practicing intelligently and it‟s not going well, you should consult a professional.” First consult your teacher but if something is not on the right path I think most people know that instinctually. Then you should seek help from a medical professional. Fortunately at UNT we have the UNT Health Science Center and we have two doctors devoted to working with students on our campus who are focused on music related issues. So we‟re very lucky here.

Interviewer Do you see these things because of a large workload, maybe over practicing, or just different physical issues that come up?

Eric Nestler Everyone‟s different. I don‟t think it‟s from over practicing. In student cases just like even in my case, I think it‟s genetic. I really do. I don‟t have any scientific data to point but I think it is. I don‟t even think its workload. I know workload can be challenging but students are pretty resilient and tough and smart. I don‟t think it‟s that. Again I don‟t have data to prove one way or the other and I‟m just giving you a gut feeling. I think it‟s genetic. I‟m not thinking just about myself, I‟m also thinking of people that I‟ve known for 20-30 years that some issue has come up. I don‟t think it‟s because they‟ve caused it themselves. That‟s what I believe.

Interviewer Let's talk about the role of teacher versus the role of performer and in some cases the role of researcher. Do you find them to be of equal significance or that one is more important than the other?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Eric Nestler For me specifically or for anybody who might be in this position?

Interviewer How about both?

Eric Nestler I don‟t think you can be an effective teacher without also being an effective performer because I teach the way that I‟ve performed. I don‟t perform as much as I used to but I‟ve performed a lot in my time. I still practice every day and I teach because I can do the job. If at some point I can‟t play anymore, I think it would affect my teaching in a negative way because then I would just have to rely on memories of what I did. Right now I rely on “I can do it,” and “I have done it,” and “I still do it” - perform and play and practice. So I say to a student “this is what I do” or if there is a piece I played a long time ago I pull out the music and say “this is how I did it back then when I performed it.” You know I haven‟t performed some pieces in a while mainly because I‟m trying to learn new literature but I take notes in my own music and I can say “this is what I did and why I did it.” So yes - I don‟t think you can divorce the two. I don‟t think you can be an effective teacher without also being an effective performer is my feeling. Researcher at this institution, in my position as an applied faculty, is less important. During the time when I couldn‟t play that became my creative outlet. I tried to produce articles and give lectures usually about music and not so much about performing. I did some mater classes but not too many. That‟s how I filled the void of not performing at the time when I wasn‟t.

Interviewer With our degree as a saxophone performance major, do you find that it can be weighted more towards the student‟s role as a performer rather than their role as a teacher?

Eric Nestler I see it as the same role. When I teach it‟s not simply “you will do it this way when you play”, it's “you should do it this way because...” Hopefully the student will also realize that that‟s how it could be taught. I don‟t really see a division between performing and teaching.

Interviewer Speaking to UNT, I feel like it is unique in that it has a very large saxophone studio which seems not to be the case with a lot of schools. Are there any advantages/disadvantages that you have noticed to that size of a studio for your students?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Eric Nestler Oh absolutely. At UNT currently I think we have about 90 people enrolled in lessons. We have freshmen - and I take freshmen. I have a freshman right now. Last year I had four - all the way through doctoral degree students. Currently I think my oldest student is in his 30‟s. I see a wide variety of students. I have a couple of music education majors. In the past I‟ve had a composer. Just last year I had a PhD composer in my studio. I have performance majors. I‟ve had jazz studies majors. I have jazz studies major right now. I have a wide variety of students and I think that variety helps everybody. So at UNT, outside of my immediate studio we have jazz studies performance, jazz studies arranging, we have classical composition, jazz composition, we have DMAs in jazz, DMAs in classical and MMs in both. We have such a wide variety of student here that there's a great amount of diversity when you hold a saxophone. I think that is really beneficial. Selfishly, I would say because we have so many students that allows me to carry about twelve or thirteen graduate students in my studio. Of that, I think I have maybe eight doctoral students. I‟m not really sure on the number. It‟s posted outside on my bulletin board. I‟ve got students who are beginning their doctorates and students you are like yourself - they‟re almost done. So everyone is somewhere in the pipeline. I think the diversity of it all is really a valuable thing for the students. Last night I had a second year DMA student play a recital. She‟s also a TF and all of her students were there and that's great. That‟s a wonderful thing that we have at this institution that maybe other schools don‟t have at their institution. Oh here. [Nestler grabs a sheet of paper from his deck to show me] This would interest you. A calendar of events of spring 2018. January 15th all the way to right before May. If you look those are all the recitals which I think is the strength. I would say it is our strength. The amount of performing that happens at UNT, especially in the spring is overwhelming. I‟m just talking about the saxophone program and that‟s not even band and lab band. That‟s saxophone performance performed at a high level every week especially in the spring. That‟s my proof. Right there.

Interviewer Has the studio size always been this large?

Eric Nestler It used to be larger. When I came here we had 120 and we were under orders to cut it down to 70ish. If you think about it we have nine or ten lab bands depending on if you call it a rep ensemble or the lab jazz. Five saxophones in each, that‟s 50. Then we‟ve got five concert bands. Usually we carry six or seven in each. All of the sudden you do the arithmetic and we‟re at 80. To help teach it I need doctoral students. Then you add another four or five doctoral students. Just to function at this institution we have to have 75 and 85 students just to fill the ensembles.

Interviewer Had you experienced a studio that size before you had taken this job?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Eric Nestler When I was at Indiana, I think Dr. Rousseau had 60-65 people in his studio. UNT was a little bigger but I was still used to it. I would also offer unsolicited, that I try to make the UNT saxophone program a clone of what I experienced at Indiana. I will freely admit to that and stand by it.

Interviewer Has anything changed in your teaching over time?

Eric Nestler Well yeah. I‟m 30 years older. That‟s one. I think the style of my teaching is pretty much the same. I know a lot more music now. I tend to be more selective with my comments. In the past when I was a new teacher I would hear a student and say I need to do this, this, this, and this and have ten different things. While I still hear ten things that I‟d like to do, I might only choose one or two to address with the student - only because I don't want to overwhelm the student. I‟ve always taken notes in a notebook. I try to address technical issues, musical issues, tone, technique, rhythm, and all of the things that you have to address. I do focus on standard literature. I guess I was always kind of conservative about the literature that I would do. I have learned to appreciate some pieces that I haven't enjoyed in the past but I still steer students away from repertoire that I appreciate less. You could ask any student. They would say that‟s true. That‟s probably normal for anybody I speculate.

Interviewer Kind of speaking to that, how do you see your role in relation to a student‟s motivation? Do you feel responsibility there at all?

Eric Nestler No and that‟s blunt yet it‟s realistic. If a student‟s not motivated they‟ll never make it. It‟s not my job to motivate them. If they‟re not motivated at this institution they‟ll study with a TF and if they are not motivated, probably they‟ll not pass the UDE (the upper division or the recital) and they wouldn't make it in the real world anyway. That‟s harsh. I apologize. Yet it‟s realistic. I don‟t think it‟s the teacher‟s job to motivate. If a student doesn‟t have the fire in them already they‟re at the wrong place. They‟re in the wrong field. Music is so competitive. Gosh, just go to the World Saxophone Congress. Have you been to the Saxophone World Congress this year?

Interviewer Not yet.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Eric Nestler I would just show you this program booklet. [Nestler retrieves the booklet from the top of his file cabinet to show me] That‟s how many saxophone players are in the World Saxophone Congress. They all play great. If you are not motivated you‟ll never make it.

Interviewer So do you agree that it‟s a lot of intrinsic motivation?

Eric Nestler Yeah. Absolutely. 100%. You can be inspired by someone. I‟m inspired by students a lot of times but if I don‟t have the motivation in me to go home and practice no one's going to make it happen but me. I think that‟s true of any student.

Interviewer Have you ever seen or had students that experience burnout?

Eric Nestler Oh yeah absolutely. It‟s so intense here. It happens every semester and not just one or two. I mean it‟s a lot and I get it. Here if you are in one of the bands, you are required to go to all of the band concerts. You were here right?

Interviewer Yeah.

Eric Nestler I require students to go to all of the saxophone concerts. All of the sudden this list is twice the size and by Spring Break or by Thanksgiving people are just zombies - that‟s vernacular for being really burned out.

Interviewer Have you ever experienced that yourself?

Eric Nestler Absolutely. Every semester. Because now it‟s not just about teaching and practicing, you have to do the jobs of a professor in which there are other jobs to do than teach and play. You have to serve on committees. You have to be active and it takes a lot of effort outside of just coming here for 16 hours to teach.

Interviewer Do you have ways or things or suggestions that keep you going?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Eric Nestler Balance in life. Have hobbies if you can. Have inspiration that's not always music generated.

Interviewer What are some hobbies that you involve yourself in?

Eric Nestler Well, my dog. My vet called just 10 minutes ago. That‟s one. I like to cook. That‟s a hobby. The exercise I get. I walk every day, hopefully. I whispered hopefully. I have family members. Those are all important things. I like to travel. I take time off too. I think that‟s okay to travel without an instrument and have a vacation which I never would have done as a student or even a young faculty member. But at my experience, I think it‟s really important now.

Interviewer What kind of planning do you do from a year to year basis in order to prep for the next school year?

Eric Nestler Planning always happens. It‟s constant. It just doesn‟t happen at one time. Even now we are looking at new students. I have to always think about the next year‟s class and who‟s going to return and how are they progressing in their goals to achieve their degrees. You even heard with the other fellow that he‟s looking towards the future. That takes advising and planning. Some of my students will either go to another place or hopefully maybe stay here and move through the ranks to become leaders like teaching fellows or doctoral students. That‟s always in the back of my mind. As we are having lessons and I‟m teaching them I‟m always thinking about how a student will fit in a leadership role in the future. Like the young woman who played last night. She was my freshman however many years ago and now I trust her to be a teaching fellow. She teaches 12 students and a quartet. That‟s part of the planning that I always think about with each student. How are they going to move in their career trajectory here at UNT? Will they stay? Will they become a teaching fellow or a doctoral student (which I see as a role model) who performs often?

Interviewer This management and planning for the future, did it become easier over time for you?

Eric Nestler I‟m more used to it. Yes. It was overwhelming at first because of the sheer number of students. I‟ve been doing it for so long now it‟s kind of second nature. Before I would wait until audition time to be thinking about it but now I‟m always thinking about it. I might meet new students either at some conference or if I go to another place. I was in China, maybe last year and I would

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 think “well someone there might come here.” I‟m always thinking about how my studio is growing and progressing. So that‟s part of the planning.

Interviewer In my experience it seems that the teaching fellows here have a different experience than teaching assistants in other schools in that they have a larger population of undergrads that they teach.

Eric Nestler It‟s a full time job and they have good undergrads in their studios. I mean really, really good undergraduates. When I was at Indiana there were four Associate Instructors. When I came here to UNT we had 8 or 9 graduate students serving as Teaching Fellows. We are down maybe to 7 or 8 at the moment depending upon what the duties are. It is like they have a college job already.

Interviewer So you would say they have an advantage to other graduate students?

Eric Nestler Well I like to think so. I use it as a recruiting device except I also like to give a TF to someone who has been here because I know how they are. I know what they are capable of. I think that even if it‟s a mature graduate student who comes here it can be so overwhelming. It‟s a new school. It‟s a huge program. There are freshman here who are amazing. It could be too overwhelming so I usually like to offer a teaching fellowship to someone who is mature, who‟s been here for a while because it‟s just so big. You could be like a deer in the headlights. You‟d be in shock. I have seen graduate students like that and I try to counsel them in a way that they can cope. I don‟t try to give them the added responsibility of instructing 12 students unless they have been here for a while and know the ropes. You go to a new school you have to learn a new system. You go to a new school, you are automatically lower on the totem pole and it takes a while to work one‟s way up.

Interviewer With the undergrads who are studying with the TFs and not necessarily directly with you, in what ways to you try to establish a connection with those students?

Eric Nestler You know that‟s a great question and whenever we hire a new faculty member that‟s the question I ask of a candidate. I usually say “we have at this institution (blank) number of (whatever instrument we are hiring), how will you positively influence their education?” and it‟s a great question. Our Monday departmentals are a great way for me to directly influence their

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 education. In fact this last Monday we had departmental. Just 2 days ago. You remember departmentals?

Interviewer Yes.

Eric Nestler A really great thing that we have now is online platform called Canvas. Are you familiar with it?

Interviewer No. I am not.

Eric Nestler Everything that I‟ve ever produced - exercises, handouts, articles...it‟s all on Canvas. They can all access all of my teaching. Do you remember my fundamentals book?

Interviewer Mhm.

Eric Nestler All on canvas.

Interviewer Yeah, I have a physical copy.

Eric Nestler Do you?

Interviewer Yeah. [Both of us are laughing. It was a rather large document that he loaned me to make photocopies of in the past]

Eric Nestler Do you? I don‟t even have the file anymore. I made a PDF of it but it‟s on Canvas. So that‟s a direct way. Another indirect way is that I try to teach my TFs the way I teach and the way I think they should teach. I always have direct contact with the TFs and their loads. I advise the TFs on a regular basis. Sometimes students who are brave will come to me and ask for advice directly and I think that's fine. Sometimes they will email me and that‟s also fine. We have a rigorous audition process here for ensembles and there is education that goes on during an audition. I know it‟s not the same as having 14 private lessons for an hour with a professor. It‟s not and

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 maybe that‟s possibly a weakness. On the other hand, the TFs here often go and teach at another university. In fact, one of my guys just got a job last year. Who were the TFs when you were here?

Interviewer TF One [I will refer to TF Names and the places they are currently anonymously here], TF Two….TF Three.

Eric Nestler TF Three is at Unnamed University. TF Four?

Interviewer Yes, TF Four was there.

Eric Nestler TF Four is at Unnamed University. So again, they walk into jobs. TF Two is a grad student at Unnamed University. TF One has a huge studio in Unnamed Area that last I heard. TF Five who was a jazz TF is now at Unnamed University. TF Six is last I heard is at Unnamed University. So there we are.

Interviewer You mentioned giving TF positions to somebody that you know how they operate. Do you find you have to counsel or talk about pedagogical strategies much with them?

Eric Nestler Yes and that happens in two ways very often. Well maybe three ways. Every time in lessons, hopefully they‟re applying teaching techniques to their teaching. At the beginning of every semester we talk about some teaching techniques. They‟re always involved in juries. There is an evaluation process they are also involved in, although I‟m the one who makes the final evaluation of their students. We also offer two classes in saxophone literature. One is solo literature and one is orchestral/chamber literature. In my teaching there is also a component of pedagogical issues that we go over. They take those two classes which are not technically pedagogical classes but I have a pedagogical component in them. Moreover they have to take the woodwind pedagogy class. Every undergrad needs to take them but if they don‟t have it, then as a grad student they get it there. So they really get three classes in woodwind and/or saxophone literature and pedagogy.

Interviewer Do your TFs ever have any responsibilities outside of teaching lessons to undergrads?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Eric Nestler Quartet. Each TF this semester also has a quartet which is unusual.

Interviewer A quartet they are coaching?

Eric Nestler Mhm.

Interviewer They don‟t have to teach woodwind methods or other courses?

Eric Nestler Not at this institution. In the jazz TFs, sometimes they will do a lab band. In reality they do paper work. I make them take care of the creating the departmental programs and take attendance at all of the recitals but that‟s not like what you are talking about? Like they don‟t have to do a theory class?

Interviewer Yeah. I know of graduate students who had to teach woodwind methods or a music appreciation course on top of some lessons.

Eric Nestler Yeah, not here. Those are also available but the saxophone TFs are so busy teaching saxophone that they don‟t need to.

Interviewer We were talking about teaching changing over time. If you don‟t mind me asking, was there anything in the past that you had tried that didn‟t work out?

Eric Nestler When I first came to UNT, we tried teaching group lessons – either two students or three at the same time. That was not an effective approach. Students wanted individual lessons; and, I have found that it is more effective to teach one on one.

Interviewer I asked this in the questionnaire but I would just like to ask this question again. In the grand scheme of things how do you find what you do as a saxophone professor important?

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Eric Nestler Well, I get to meet a huge number of students and impress upon them the joy of performing music with a saxophone at a high level. I get to make suggestions about how to think about not just music, but also the saxophone. I get to guide a lot of people...in classical saxophone. I hesitated by saying in classical saxophone because very few people can do that. I think that is the way that I have an impact on students. Hopefully I‟m a role model on how to act professionally. We have maybe 50 or 60 people in Monday departmentals. They are also in class sometimes, so maybe it‟s not that many but technically there are 60 people who should be attending departmentals that I could have direct influence over their musical growth.

Interviewer I think that pretty much covers most of the questions I had. Are there any last words of advice or knowing the scope of my project? Anything you would like to add?

Eric Nestler I try to treat each student as an individual. I have a very detailed saxophone handbook with a course of study but I don‟t think of it as “the program” that you have to do. Every student has his or her own strengths and weaknesses. I try to build on their strengths and improve their weaknesses. I try to respect what they want to do. Here is a clear for instance. You know the quartet that you heard?

Interviewer Mhm.

Eric Nestler I really don‟t like Maslanka‟s quartet that they played. You can ask anybody. Everybody knows that. But, I‟m hesitant to say they can‟t do it. If a student is inspired to learn, practice, and perform a specific piece, I hope I would allow that. Individual inspiration is an important tool. Moreover, I‟m hesitant to make a student do something. While I think the best tone quality is that produced with a Rousseau mouthpiece NC4. I‟m hesitant to make them use it if they are really married to something else. I say “I would love to twist your arm,” and they say “you know, I really like this.” Okay. Same with the Maslanka, they really wanted to play it. Okay. I‟ll let you play it. Sometimes I have to choose to bite my tongue. If the student is really inspired to do something like play Maslanka Mountain Roads…okay. Okay. I'll let you do it. Because they are inspired to do it I think I should let them do it. If they are really inspired to play mouthpiece X even though I‟m not a big fan of whatever that is, if they are really inspired by it then okay. I‟ll let you do that. I‟m hesitant to force a student into a pre-existing mold. Although having said that, I have to be in a position to evaluate students. There is this imaginary line right here and you have to play somewhere above it. If they can‟t I have to say you can‟t continue which is why I have the detailed saxophone handbook. Professor Leali and I put together a handbook that puts

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 together freshman through doctoral studies - all of the rules because we have so many people here. The issue is if we have to say no to somebody we have to have it in writing which is an institutional thing.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Observation Notes: Dr. Eric Nestler

At UNT I observed a quartet coaching comprising of a doctoral student in saxophone performance and three master students in saxophone performance. The quartet worked on the second movement of Maslanka‟s Mountain Roads and the first two movements of 4 Sequences for Saxophone Quartet by Franz Constant. Following the coaching I observed a lesson of one of the three master students who was in his second year. The student worked on the Saxophone

Concerto by Erland von Koch. The lesson and coaching took place in Dr. Nestler‟s office located on the second floor on the music building. His office was tucked away in the corner of the building and was more isolated from intruding sounds from other rooms. It was a relatively large office, enough to fit a grand piano, two desks, a filing cabinet, and space for the quartet, Dr.

Nestler and myself to fit comfortably. There was a hard floor in the office covered by a large rug that appears to have been brought by Dr. Nestler himself. There were large shelves full of book around his office and the walls are decorated with various pictures or Dr. Nestler and other saxophonists, posters, and other such memorabilia pertaining to saxophone.

The quartet was seated for the duration of their coaching in a squared shape with Dr.

Nestler sitting in front of the group. The student in the solo lesson stood for the hour and Dr.

Nestler was up and about the room as well. At the start of both lessons Dr. Nestler asked for the notebooks the quartet and the student were required to bring. Dr. Nestler referenced the notes he had taken the previous week and added additional notes throughout the current lessons I observed. Dr. Nestler started each by asking the students if they needed to warm up and offered to let them play for a bit if needed. When the quartet was ready to go, they played through the entire second movement of Maslanka while Dr. Nestler listened, watched the score, and took notes. The solo lesson began in a similar manner. The student played the entire first movement of

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 the concerto while Dr. Nestler again listened, watched the score, and took note. Dr. Nestler would occasionally tap his foot, his pencil in his hand, or conduct a very small pattern. He took written notes in the notebook as the students played. After the students finished playing Dr.

Nestler worked backwards through all of the notes he took and addressed those issues with the quartet and the solo lesson.

The notebook was an important pedagogical tool for Dr. Nestler. Some of the notes he took in the students‟ notebooks were quite detailed. For the quartet, a lot of work was done addressing tuning. Dr. Nestler made notes of what measures, chords, and even in some cases specific notes for a specific instrument is if it was flat or sharp. In the solo lesson Dr. Nestler offered a fingering suggestion for an altissimo A and made the comment that he wrote it down in the student‟s notebook. Dr. Nestler also kept pencils on the stands in his office which all of the students used often. The quartet was marking turning tendencies and any alternate fingering used. In the solo lesson, Dr. Nestler made the comment on an altissimo passage to “write all of the fingerings in so you don‟t second guess yourself in a performance.”

Instruction from Dr. Nestler came in a few different forms. It was either a direct command such as “I want you to play it as an answer,” or a suggestion based on his own playing experience such as “I do this to make the music better.” Comments could also take the form of a negotiation with the students. When working on the Constant quartet, which was the first time the quartet had worked on it in a coaching, the members were playing a unison passage in different styles. Dr. Nestler sang how he thought it should sound but then said “quartet is a democracy, you all have to decide.” He then had them play it two different ways and asked them to vote on it. In the solo lesson Dr. Nestler sang another passage on how he thought it should be played. The student said he disagreed. Dr. Nestler‟s reply was “If you can convince me, you can

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 do it.” The student gave an answer based off a Shenkerian analysis. Dr. Nestler was convinced and let him perform it the way he wanted. Both the coaching and the lesson ended approximately

10 minutes before the end of the hour. During that time and before the start of the next hour/lesson, the students exchanged conversation with Dr. Nestler discussed quartet scores to check out. The solo student discussed competitions and his current process in ones he was involved in. Notebooks were handed back and Dr. Nestler helped the students pack up, carrying cases and moving chairs and stands. He shook the students hand as they departed saying “see you next week.”

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Conclusion

Throughout my college career I felt that each university I attended provided a unique experience. I viewed this diversity as important and valuable going forward. Each saxophone professor I studied with had unique and valuable approaches to teaching. Even knowing these things at the outset and with the intent to illustrate these differences, I was still surprised at how unique each program and professor was. I served in very different student roles at each university and had my own weaknesses over the course of my college career. Although my experiences with Dees, Nabb, and Nestler were rigorous and comprehensive, this project expanded my perspective on my experience as a student. I began to see how my experiences with each teacher represented just a small fraction of their teaching expertise, and only a small portion of the musical and pedagogical possibilities that I could explore in my own teaching. I also started to feel a sense of relief during this project. I was reminded every step of the way that there are many viable ways to approach music performance and pedagogy, and that there is not a single

„right‟ approach. I hope this document demonstrates that. From this project I get a sense that teaching – a significant part of the job of a saxophone professor - will be as much about discovering as imparting knowledge to others.

As stated in the introduction I believe this project shows how past, personality, and school size influences teaching. I was surprised the most by responses on the question regarding responsibility felt for a student‟s motivation from the in person interviews. While Dees and Nabb expressed differing levels of responsibility, Nestler expressed that he clearly did not. From my experience I find that there are more personal connections to students and less rigid systems in place at SFA and TTU. I think this is a product of school size. UNT is so large that a more rigid structure is needed to manage the student population and motivation is more closely tied up in

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018 the high levels of competition present. From Nabb‟s responses: “when you first get out and you‟re teaching, your identity as a teacher is super, super closely tied to your own pedigree: where you studied, who you studied with because that‟s been most of your experience.” From

Nestler‟s responses: “I would also offer unsolicited, that I try to make the UNT saxophone program a clone of what I experienced at Indiana. I will freely admit to that and stand by it.”

From Dees‟ responses: “when I first started teaching I tried all different kinds of things. In some ways I drew on my own teachers. I studied with Debra Richtmeyer and Hemke – they are both legendary teachers and musicians and are both very much a part of my musical DNA.” These all show clear connections to their past teachers and how it has influenced what they do now.

From completing this project I have found more ways to learn and incorporate what I have experienced into my own teaching. Also, I feel a firmer sense of confidence about my teaching after completing this project. Another interesting aspect of this project was the opportunity to interact with Dees, Nabb, and Nestler on a more purely pedagogical level as opposed to my past roles as a student. I was no longer receiving these teaching styles but was having a conversation about how, why, and where these things come from.

At the end of each interview and questionnaire, participants were asked what challenges they see for saxophonists currently pursuing a university teaching position and what advice they can offer. A summary of their responses is that the field is competitive with few jobs and many qualified applicants. There seems to be a decrease in full time tenure-track positions and an increase in adjunct positions. In order to be successful, this pursuit has to be something you are passionate about, you have to have patience, and you must be flexible and versatile in your pursuits and skill sets when looking to make your way in this profession.

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

In a sense these interviews are an examination of the lifetimes of work of Dees, Nabb, and Nestler. There is a very long training process to establish a career as a saxophone professor.

Each started playing saxophone in elementary or middle school with some music involvement earlier. Each was involved in music and saxophone throughout high school, college and one or two advanced degrees. After getting a job in higher education there is still usually a six year probationary period before one can apply for tenure. What Dees, Nabb, and Nestler do comes from the accumulation of a life time of experiences, training, and perseverance. I would like to conclude with some quotes on teaching philosophy and how being a teacher of music can be significant:

“Music is important for people and it’s a good tool for examining things that are mysterious. It can bring people together and remind us that we aren’t as different as we sometimes think.” – David Dees

“I think what teachers and professors do is important in every way, immeasurable ways. My study of music changed who I am, and has had an impact on every one of my life experiences since I chose this path.” – Nathan Nabb

“Music is for everyone. I think saxophone could be for everyone. I try to help interested people perform music in an artistic way with a saxophone and hopefully, share it with others.” – Eric Nestler

Texas Tech University, Lucas Halley, December, 2018

Bibliography

Dees, Margaret Iris. “A Review Of Eight University Clarinet Studios: An Investigation Of Pedagogical Style, Content And Philosophy Through Observation And Interviews.” Florida State University, 2005. http://purl.flvc.org/fsu/fd/FSU_migr_etd-0791.

Nestler, Eric. “The Nightmare of Musician‟s Dystonia: A New Dawn of Hope for Treatment.” The Saxophone Symposium, 40 (2017): 1-22.

Nolan, Julia. “Fostering Artistry and Pedagogy: Conversations with Artist-Teachers Frederick Hemke, Eugene Rousseau, and Donald Sinta.” PhD diss., University of British Columbia, 2012. Accessed April 1, 2018. http://hdl.handle.net/2429/42002.

Stephen F. Austin State University School of Music. “Nathan Nabb.” Stephen F. Austin State University. Accessed April 1, 2018. https://www.depts.ttu.edu/music/aboutus/faculty/david-dees.php.

Texas Tech School of Music. “David Dees.” Texas Tech University. Accessed April 1, 2018. https://www.depts.ttu.edu/music/aboutus/faculty/david-dees.php.

University of North Texas College of Music. “Eric Nestler.” University of North Texas. Accessed April 1, 2018. http://music.unt.edu/faculty-and-staff/eric-nestler.