CONGRATULATIONS SAXOPHONE STUDIO GRADUATES! 🎓🎷🎉 Joe Wolf is graduating with a Master of Saxophone Performance and will be pursuing a DMA in Saxophone Performance at Louisiana State University, studying with Dr. Kendra Wheeler. He will be the saxophone studio’s graduate assistant! Lauren Ackerman is graduating with a Bachelor Degree in Music Education. Starting in August, she will be attending the University of Maryland, College Park, in pursuit of her Master of Music Performance degree as the saxophone studio Teaching Assistant. Fear the Turtle! Maggie Lasher is graduating with her B.S. in Premedicine with a minor in Saxophone Performance! After graduation, Maggie will be joining the Peace Corps! Audrey Zeidenberg is graduating with a Bachelor Degree in Music Education. She plans to teach instrumental music at a Pennsylvania public middle school. Luke Kranyak will be graduating with a BM in music performance with minors in Entrepreneurship & Innovation and Arts Entrepreneurship. Immediately after graduation, Luke will begin a performance contract with RWS Global where he will be performing with a strolling brass band at Hersheypark. After the summer, he will be pursuing cruise ship performance contracts and military band auditions. He also looks to expand his business ventures of audio/video recording services and private music lessons. Adam Welwood, a BME graduate, plans to teach private lessons and continue a job search around his hometown! Aidan Doyle, a BME and now PPC graduate of Penn State, plans to search for music education employment opportunities near Pittsburgh, PA. Congratulations and applause to all studio graduates. We’ll miss you! #grad #music #saxophone #musicschool #pennstate

Last but not least, we welcome Lindsay Gould to the studio next year. Lindsay is from Pittsburgh, PA and is beginning a Saxophone Performance degree. Lindsay enjoy watching movies, eating good food, and hanging out with friends. Welcome, Lindsay! #music #saxophone #musicschool #pennstate

Our next feature is Maxwell Morton! Max is from Murrysville, PA and is entering a degree in music education. Outside of music, Max enjoys anything active and outside and is an avid ultimate frisbee player. Max hopes to continue playing ultimate frisbee while in college! Studio outing, anyone? We can’t wait to have you, Max! #music #saxophone #pennstate #musicschool #musiceducation

Please join us in welcoming another new member of the studio! Cameron Ribich hails from Lancaster, PA. He will be along the newest members of the Music Education family! Outside of music, Cameron loves sports, and spending quality time with his friends and family. We’re excited to have you, Cameron! #music #saxophone #pennstate #musiceducation #musicschool

It’s officially the last day of classes for the 2024-25 school year! In a few short months, we’ll welcome 4 1-year students into the saxophone studio. Join us in welcoming them here! Benjamin Tuthill, a State College native, is the first to be featured! He is entering the Music Education program. Ben enjoys skiing, biking, hiking, and backpacking. He has played for his school’s rugby team for the last two years! Welcome, Ben! We can’t wait to have you on campus. Warm up those skill drills! #acceptedstudent #pennstate #musiceducation #saxophone #musicchool

Don’t forget to bring your horn to NASA next weekend! The NASA Region 8 Conference is officially a week away. The conference will close with an Open Saxophone Ensemble concert. All attendees are invited to join. The ensemble will be under the baton of Dennis Glocke, Professor Emeritus and former Director of Concert Bands at Penn State. #nasa #saxophone #pennstate #music #conference

LESS THAN TWO WEEKS UNTIL NASA! Register today at the link in the bio! #nasa #saxophone #conference #music

The NASA Region 8 Conference is in two weeks! We are excited to welcome over 150 saxophonists to Penn State. Above are schedules for both days. If you aren’t already registered, it’s not too late! The conference and all concerts are free to attend. Register to attend the conference at the link in the bio! #nasa #saxophone #music #pennstate #conference

We’re getting back into the swing of things here in the Sax Studio! We are preparing to host the North American Saxophone Alliance Region VIII Conference in March featuring studio saxes and 150 other saxophonists from our region. Additionally, we will have 4 student recitals this semester. On April 22nd, Concert Band will be playing a special concert for studio member, Maggie Lasher, and her friends & family. Maggie shares, “The Penn State Concert Band, along with their other repertoire, will be playing Brian Balmages’ “Soaring With Angels”, a piece written in memory of my dad, Jon-Michael Lasher. This will be only the second performance of this piece, as it was premiered last spring at Lasher’s alma mater, Connetquot High School. Jon was a beloved music teacher, mentor, and friend in his community. He was a talented saxophonist and studied at the CRANE and Duquesne Schools of Music. My family and I are so grateful to the PSU SOM staff for allowing this piece to be performed here and for us to share a piece of our heart with you. We hope to see you there!” *Addition: American Mavericks concert on February 18 will feature Dr. Stambler and Dr. Costa in Recital Hall at 7:30. We can wait to see you there, all performances above are open to the public!

Meet our current Saxophone Alliance Officers! Elliott Blackhurst is our current President. Elliott is a second year Music Education major from Eighty Four, PA. His favorite piece to play is the Hartley Saxophone Concerto or Come Sunday by Omar Thomas. Outside of music, he loves to golf, travel, and spend time with family. You can catch Elliott in Centre Dimensions, Symphonic band, and his jazz combo this semester. Emilee Moore is our Vice President. Emilee is a first year Sociology major from Ringtown, PA. Her favorite piece to play is Andante and Allegro by André Chailleux. Outside of music, Emilee enjoys crocheting as well as spending time with her family and friends! You can catch Emilee in Studio Ensemble and University Choir this semester. Luke Kranyak is our Treasurer and Event Planner. Luke is a fourth year Saxophone Performance major from Hazleton, PA. His favorite piece is a duet - Paganini Lost by Jun Nagao. Outside of music, Luke loves to 3D print! He would also love to record your recital! You can catch Luke in SWE, Centre Dimensions, his quartet, and his senior recital this semester! Evelyn Bushey is our Treasurer in Training! Evelyn is a second year Music Education Major from Dillsburg, PA. Evelyn’s favorite piece to perform has been Kahn by Julie Giroux. Outside of music, Evelyn enjoys gaming and painting. This semester, you can hear Evelyn play in a sax quartet and Symphonic Band! Aaron Kaufman is our Secretary and Social Media Manager. Aaron is a third year Music Education major from Johnstown, PA. Outside of music, he loves Geography and playing GeoGuessr. You can catch Aaron playing in SWE, his quartet, and his junior recital! Never hesitate to contact any of our officers with questions surrounding Saxophone Alliance. We hold meetings open to any prospective member every first Thursday of the month at 5pm! 🎷 (122 MB2) #saxophone #music #studentorg #musicschool #pennstate #jazz #bigband #saxquartet #concertband

Proposals for the NASA Region 8 conference are due at the end of the day on Sunday! Proposals will still be accepted after this date, if time slots are still available. nasa2025pennstate.org #nasa #saxophone #music #conference #musicschool #pennstate

Proposals for the NASA Region 8 Conference are due soon! Please submit proposals at nasa2025pennstate.org by December 15th. We are looking for proposals of all ages and experience levels. The conference will be March 29-30, 2025. See you there! #music #saxophone #musicschool #pennstate

The NASA Region 8 conference is just 4.5 months away! We are excited to have Dr. Anne Kunkle & Dr. Gail Levinsky joining us to present masterclasses during the conference! Masterclass Participant Applications are currently open. If you’d like to join us at the conference, perform, or present, please visit the link in the bio! nasa2025pennstate.org #nasa #music #saxophone #pennstate #musicschool #conference #masterclass

Congratulations to the Symphonic and Campus Bands on their successful performance last Friday! The symphonic band saxophone section consists of Evelyn Bushey, Clayton Lash, Emilee Moore, and Carter Mates. The program included: Perpetua - Peter Meechan, American Hymn Song Suite - Dwayne Milburn, Only Light - Aaron Perrine, unBroken - Randall Standridge, and Children’s March - Percy Grainger. #saxophone #music #band #musicschool #pennstate

WE ARE excited to announce that the studio’s saxophone quartet auditioned and was selected to perform in Mosaic! The group is made up of Stephanie Pond, Lauren Ackerman, Aaron Kaufman, and Audrey Zeidenberg. The group will be performing a selection from David Maslanka’s Recitation Book! Mosaic is a continuous concert including large ensembles, chamber groups, and soloists in which performances occur from many areas in the auditorium. Mosaic 2024 is on Sunday, December 8th at 4pm in Eisenhower Auditorium. Tickets can be purchased at cpa.psu.edu #music #saxophone #quartet #maslanka #musicschool

WE ARE so excited to announce our featured guests for the NASA Region 8 Conference in March! We welcome sextet The Moanin’ Frogs, composer Baljinder Sekhohn II, the New Thread Quartet, Capitol Quartet, composer Erin Rodgers, and composer Michael Frazier! Registration for the conference is in the link in the bio! #nasa #saxophone #conference #pennstate #music #musicschool

Last night, SWE put on their first concert of the semester, featuring concerto contest winner @lukester_k on Roberto Molinelli’s “Four Pictures from New York”. Additionally, SWE saxophones performed a movement from Jim Colonna’s The Pursuit of Happiness, My Eyes are Full of Shadow - Joel Puckett, a virtuosic soli in Fascinating Ribbons - Joan Tower, and 4 Scottish Dances - Malcolm Arnold. Congrats and Bravo, Luke and SWE! #saxophone #concerto #music #musicschool #pennstate

Last Thursday, the studio was thrilled to welcome Valentin Kovalev to the School of Music. Valentin shared his insightful teaching and life advice with the studio. Kovalev gave a masterclass along with two studio members. We hope you enjoy the resulting pictures as much as we do! Following the masterclass, Valentin shared a sparking performance, accompanied by Dr. Joanne Yang, of saxophone classics, new music, and original transcriptions. We are so grateful that Valentin could visit, and a special thank you to @iup_saxophones for joining us. Valentin’s visit was presented by the Penn State Saxophone Alliance as well as funding from @upacpsu #saxophone #valentink #classicalsaxophone #musicschool #pennstate #music

The studio was visited by guest artists from Capitol Quartet last Sunday! The quartet gave an insightful masterclass to 4 studio members in the morning, followed by a scintillating performance on the Rhapsody Series entitled “The Odyssey of Acceptance” which took listeners through a chronology of saxophone quartet repertoire. On Monday, Capitol Quartet hosted a recording session in the Recital Hall, which studio members were able to attend. Thank you, Capitol, we hope to have you back soon! #saxophone #saxquartet #music #pennstate #musicschool #masterclass

Proposals and registration for the NASA Region 8 Conference held at Penn State University are now open! The conference will take place on March 29-30, 2025. www.nasa2025pennstate.org