The North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) is an organization for saxophone players from around North America.
History Following the lead of their colleagues in France, who created the Association of French Saxophonists in 1971, the North American Saxophone Alliance was established in 1976 under the leadership of Frederick Hemke. Since this time, NASA has offered state, regional, and international conferences attracting many important saxophonists to present performances, lectures and master classes, as-well-as found competitions for the next generation of classical and jazz saxophonists. NASA is the largest saxophone organization in the western hemisphere dedicated to the establishment of the saxophone as a medium of serious musical expression.
Members are required to pay dues, which vary depending on age. NASA hosts regional conferences for each of its 10 regions (information below). It also hosts a biennial international conference.
Past NASA biennial conferences Source: 1994: West Virginia University (host: David Hastings & Curtis Johnson) 1996: University of Florida (host: Jonathan Helton) 1998: Northwestern University (hosts: Frederick Hemke & Jonathan Helton) 2000: University of Arizona (host: Kelland Thomas) 2002: University of North Texas (host: Eric Nestler) 2004: University of North Carolina (host: Steve Stusek) 2006: University of Iowa (host: Kenneth Tse) 2008: University of South Carolina (host: Clifford Leaman) 2010: University of Georgia (host: Kenneth/Stephen Fischer) 2012: Arizona State University (host: Timothy McAllister) 2014: University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (hosts: Debra Richtmeyer & J. Michael Holmes) 2016: Texas Tech University (host: David Dees) 2018: University of Cincinnati (host: James Bunte) 2020: Arizona State University (host: Christopher Creviston) 2023: The University of Southern Mississippi (host: Dannel Espinoza) 2024: Oklahoma State University (hosts: Johnny Salinas & Tommy Poole) 2026: Ohio State University (host: Michael Torres)
Leadership Founding coordinator 1976–1978: Frederick Hemke
Presidents 1978–1980: Eugene Rousseau 1980–1984 Steven Mauk 1984–1986: Kenneth Fischer 1986–1988: Ronald Caravan 1988–1991: Dale Underwood 1992–1993 William Street 1994–1996: Michael Jacobson 1997–1999: Kandace Brooks 1999–2000: John Sampen 2001–2002: Paul Bro 2003–2004: Joseph Lulloff 2005–2006: Jonathan Helton 2007–2008: Steven Stusek 2009–2010: Debra Richtmeyer 2011–2012: John Nichol 2013–2014: Clifford Leaman 2015–2016: Kenneth Tse 2017–2018: Griffin Campbell 2019–2020: Christopher Creviston 2021-2022: Jessica Voigt-Page 2023-2024: Kimberly Goddard Loeffert 2025-2026: Andrew J. Allen
Regions NASA is divided into eleven regions dividing Canada, the United States of America, and surrounding territories. Region 1: Washington, Oregon, Idaho, Montana, Wyoming, Alaska Region 2: California, Nevada, Utah, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, Hawaii Region 3: North Dakota, South Dakota, Nebraska, Minnesota, Iowa Region 4: Kansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, Texas, Arkansas Region 5: Wisconsin, Illinois, Indiana, Ohio, Michigan Region 6: Louisiana, Mississippi, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Puerto Rico Region 7: Kentucky, Tennessee, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Maryland, Delaware, Washington, D.C. Region 8: New York, Pennsylvania, New Jersey, West Virginia, Connecticut, Massachusetts, Rhode Island, Vermont, New Hampshire, Maine Region 9: British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories Region 10: Ontario, Quebec, Newfoundland, New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, Prince Edward Island
Publication The Saxophone Symposium is the official peer-reviewed journal of NASA ()
References