Nathan Jorgensen

Nathan Jorgensen is Associate Professor of Music and Director of Jazz Studies at the University of New Hampshire (UNH). In these roles he teaches applied saxophone, directs the UNH jazz ensembles, coordinates the annual Clark Terry Jazz Festival, and produces the UNH Traditional Jazz Series. He is an active jazz and classical saxophonist, a champion of new music, and a frequent clinician and adjudicator.

Jorgensen earned a Bachelor of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Kansas, and a Master of Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City Conservatory of Music and Dance. His principal teachers include Vince Gnojek, Tim Timmons, Bobby Watson, Dan Gailey, and Mike Bartley.

His scholarship and creative activity revolve around jazz performance and pedagogy, new music commissioning and premieres, and saxophone-woodwind studies. He has premiered and commissioned numerous works for saxophone and percussion through his duo with Dr. Aaron Ragsdale (South Dakota State University). Their CD A Miraculous Tale: Mixed Music for Percussion and Saxophone was released on Centaur Records in 2017. Under his direction, the UNH 3 O'Clock Jazz Band released A Time Of Celebration (2016) and has been invited to perform at the Montreux and Umbria Jazz Festivals.

Outreach & Leadership:

• Founder, annual Dave Seiler Commissioning Project at UNH.
• Hosted residencies with leading jazz artists including Chris Potter, Donny McCaslin, and John Clayton.
• Performs regularly as lead alto saxophonist with the Portland Jazz Orchestra and Capitol Jazz Orchestra (Concord, NH).
• Frequent freelance performer throughout New England and the Seacoast region.

Professional Affiliations:

• Selmer Paris Artist endorsing Selmer Paris saxophones exclusively.
• Member, North American Saxophone Alliance, College Music Society, and National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors.