Andrew J. Allen Elected President of North American Saxophone Alliance

Georgia College & State University Assistant Professor of Music Andrew J. Allen will lead the main professional association of saxophone performers, teachers and students in the United States and Canada.

The 1,500 members of the North American Saxophone Alliance selected Allen to serve as president-elect in recent officer elections. NASA is dedicated to the promotion of the saxophone at all levels and sponsors national and regional conferences, as well as the premiere English-language, peer-reviewed journal of saxophone research in the world, The Saxophone Symposium.

“This is a bit of a surreal experience,” Allen said. “I’ve been a member of the Alliance since I was 14, and I’ve had the pleasure of serving it through a number of committees in recent years. I look forward to promoting the saxophone and saxophonists in this new capacity.”

Allen joined the faculty at Georgia College in Fall 2019. His responsibilities include the university’s saxophone studio, saxophone chamber ensembles, and the newly-formed Georgia College Saxophone Choir. In addition, he teaches undergraduate and graduate courses in music fundamentals, music theory and woodwind methods and serves as Coordinator of Winds & Percussion and as the Coordinator for the Bachelor of Arts in Music. In the past four years, his students have been accepted to perform at state, regional, and national events, including the Georgia Music Educators Association Conference, the North American Saxophone Alliance Region VI Conference, and the American Single Reed Summit. His former students have also received assistantships to pursue graduate study in saxophone. Later this Spring, his students will present accepted recitals at the North American Saxophone Alliance National Biennial Conference at the University of Southern Mississippi.

As a performer, Allen has played as a soloist and chamber musician throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France and Croatia. He has premiered more than two dozen original concert works for his instrument by such composers as François Rossé (France), Robert Lemay (Canada), Fang Man (China) and Jesse Jones (USA).  As a jazz and pop saxophonist, he has accompanied artists as diverse as The Temptations and Ronnie Milsap. His recordings of contemporary classical music can be heard on the Ravello and Equilibrium labels.

Allen is also one of the most active researchers and public pedagogues of the saxophone today.  His articles have appeared in The Instrumentalist, Music Educators Journal, Teaching Music, The Saxophone Symposium, College Music Symposium, JazzEd and School Band and Orchestra, among many other publications. His transcriptions and arrangements are available through Dorn Publications and Lovebird Music.

Allen has lectured throughout the United States and abroad and has presented clinics across the country, including at the state music education conventions of Georgia, North Dakota, South Carolina, South Dakota and Texas.  He has presented masterclasses at some of the most prominent schools of music in the country, including Duquesne, Emory, Shenandoah Conservatory and the University of Cincinnati’s College-Conservatory of Music, among many others. In the Milledgeville community, Allen is also choir director and a vestry member of St. Stephen’s Episcopal Church.

During his term as president, Allen would like to broaden NASA’s reach to serve all saxophonists.

“NASA currently serves college professors and students very well,” Allen said. “However, I’d love to push our focus outward to include resources for school band directors, younger students and adult amateurs. I think there are many saxophonists that we’re ignoring at the moment. Ultimately, I want to promote the best instrument in the world (in my opinion) and find ways of teaching more and more people about how wonderful it is and what an incredible expressive tool it can be.”