Nathan’s first exposure to music was through taking piano lessons with Mrs. Irina Babina and discovering the alto saxophone in the 5th grade. The next year, he began taking private lessons with Mr. John Becker. Since then, music and the saxophone have developed into an important aspect of his life.
Now a senior at Huron High School, Nathan leads the saxophone section in the Huron Symphony Band under the direction of Mr. Robert Ash, plays lead alto in the award-winning Huron Jazz Band, and performs with a regularly gigging jazz combo under the direction of Jack Wagner at Community High School. Nathan has toured with the symphony band on a spring tour of New York City at Carnegie Hall and is looking forward to touring with these ensembles again in Spain, a trip scheduled for the summer of 2024.
As an instrumental soloist, Nathan has been invited to feature as a concerto soloist with three local bands and orchestras as a winner of two respective concerto competitions. In addition, he was a shortlisted finalist in the International Manhattan Music Competition and was a first prize winner in the International Golden Classical Music Awards Competition. Nathan has previously played as principal alto in the MSBOA All State Band and was one of 4 instrumentalists chosen statewide as a winner of the MSBOA All-State Soloist Competition in 2023. He has attended the MPULSE Saxophone Institute for the past two summers, where he learned from Dr. Timothy McAllister (University of Michigan) and Dr. Matthew Koester (University of Wisconsin – Madison) through lessons and masterclasses. Nathan currently studies with Dr. Sean Hurlburt (Northwestern University), who has brought him to the next level as an instrumental soloist.
In his free time, Nathan enjoys spending time with friends and family, learning jazz improvisation as an amateur, listening to music, running cross country, and participating in various science competitions. Nathan would like to thank his private teacher Dr. Hurlburt for his passionate, humorous teaching, his accompanist Dr. Liz Ames, his director Mr. Ash, and his past musical teachers Mrs. Babina and Mr. Becker for their support.
You can find Nathan’s 2023 Contemporary Music Competition saxophone performance here.