The Northwestern State University Jazz Orchestra will present a concert Wednesday, Nov 15 at 7:30 p.m. in Magale Recital Hall. Admission is free and open to the public. Galindo Rodriguez will direct the orchestra. Guest artists will be Associate Professor of Music – Saxophone Paul Forsyth and Instructor of Voice D’nissa Hester.
The orchestra will perform Cole Porter’s “Love for Sale” arranged by Pete Meyers with Kenyon Johnson of DeRidder on tenor saxophone, Jack Salyer of Duncanville, Texas, on alto saxophone and Addison Pelegrino of Burleson, Texas, on drums, “Fascinating Rhythm” by Ira and George Gershwin and arranged by Sammy Nestico and featuring Johnson, “Samba de haps” by Mark Taylor featuring Ronald Rodriguez of Cartegena, Colombia, on piano and Jack Dyre of Canton, Texas, on baritone saxophone and “Ev’rytime We Say Goodbye” by Porter and arranged by Glenn Kostur and featuring Forsyth.
Also on the program are “Pegasus” by Hank Levy featuring Salyer and Galindo Rodriguez on flugelhorn, “At Last” by Harry Warren and arranged by Mike Carubia and featuring Hester, “We’ll Be Together Again” by Carl T. Fischer with lyrics by Frankie Laine and arrangement by Bob Florence and featuring Hester and “Begin the Beguine” by Porter and arranged by Bill Holman.
The Jazz Orchestra will perform this program at the Louisiana Music Educators Association Conference on Nov. 18 in Baton Rouge.
Equally adept at both the classical and jazz repertoire, Forsyth has performed recitals and taught masterclasses at numerous concert halls, universities, and conferences around the world. Forsyth has been featured as a soloist and chamber musician at North American Saxophone Alliance Conferences, World Saxophone Congresses, John Donald Robb Composer Symposiums, and International Saxophone Symposiums. He has been instrumental in commissioning several new works for solo saxophone, saxophone quartet and saxophone/oboe duo. As a top-call saxophonist in northern Louisiana, he has performed with such performers as Regis Philbin, Lew Soloff, the Temptations and Bobby Vinton. In 2012, Paul Forsyth was named the Collegiate Division Chairman of the Louisiana Association for Jazz Education (LAJE).
Forsyth joined the faculty of Northwestern State in 2007. He has been on the faculties of Albion College, Spring Arbor University and Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp. He received his doctoral and master’s degrees in saxophone performance from Michigan State University and his bachelor’s degree in music education from the University of Tennessee.
Forsyth is a member of two renowned chamber ensembles, the Three Reeds Duo and the Iridium Quartet.
Hester is a native of Amarillo, Texas. She holds a bachelor of music with a concentration in vocal performance and masters of music with a concentration in vocal performance and choral conducting from Northwestern State. She has also studied at the Taos Opera Institute under world renowned soprano Mary Jane Johnson. She has been an instructor of music/voice since 2015 and was an adjunct instructor of music/voice for five years. Last summer, she was a teaching fellow for the International Performing Arts Institute in Kiefersfelden, Germany.
