KENNESAW, Ga. | Jan 28, 2025

A different kind of saxophone player, Nathan Nabb performs more frequently with symphony orchestras in large halls rather than with jazz combos in small clubs.

The director of Kennesaw State University’s Dr. Bobbie Bailey School of Music has a portfolio that includes solo and chamber recitals, engagements with symphony orchestras, and clinics around the world. Earlier this month he performed with the St. Louis Symphony, he performed selections from “The Nightmare Before Christmas” film score with the Houston Symphony in November, and in October played a suite of Symphonic Dances by Sergei Rachmaninoff with the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra.

“Much of what I have done for the last 21 years is with orchestra, which is fairly unique because saxophone is not a permanent instrument in that ensemble as it was invented long after traditional instrumentation had been largely set,” Nabb said. “I love the sound of an orchestra, and blending in with the other woodwinds in this music is a unique challenge, too.”

Specializing in classical saxophone makes Nabb somewhat a rarity in the music world. Patented in 1846, the saxophone is a relatively new invention in music, and relatively few composers have incorporated the saxophone in their works. In addition to Rachmaninoff’s work, modern composers like George Gershwin, Maurice Ravel, Bela Bartok and Sergei Prokofiev have featured saxophones, and Nabb has frequently performed and studied their pieces.

It was through one of those orchestral performances that led him to apply at Kennesaw State. In 2023, while the director of the school of music at Stephen F. Austin State University in Texas, he performed with the Atlanta Symphony. He stayed with friends in Cobb County and started thinking about his next move. With a young daughter about to start her own educational journey, he considered a major metropolitan area with myriad arts and cultural opportunities – like Atlanta. Shortly thereafter, he applied to be the Bailey School’s director.

“Raising a family in this environment really was appealing to me, and so this job came open,” he said. “When this opportunity arose, applying for it just felt like the right thing to do. I have a lot of gratitude for music and the journey it has taken me on in my life.”

KSU’s growth trajectory also helped sell Nabb on the prospects of relocating. While he knew relatively little about Kennesaw State before his 2023 visit, he has since discovered an institution with uncapped potential.

“I appreciated the growth potential that had taken place in enrollment, matched with the expectations of an R2 university,” he said. “In the Bailey School of Music, we have a wonderful faculty of high-achieving artists performing and doing things all over, not just locally but nationally and internationally. KSU checks all the boxes.”

Nabb started playing saxophone in the fifth grade after finding a Selmer Mark VI alto saxophone in the closet of his boyhood home. His father stopped playing after high school but encouraged Nabb to pick it up in his place. The journey has never ended.

As an educator, Nabb’s continued focus is on pedagogy—the process of teaching the instrument to a wide range of learning styles and abilities. Currently, he’s writing a book on the extended techniques in saxophone, which are skills that allow a player to significantly alter the sound of the instrument, an extension of the research that went into his doctoral dissertation.

His basic philosophy is more direct. In the fall, he addressed the symposium of KSU’s music majors, a periodic event that involves student performances and guest lectures. He drew on his experiences over a lifetime of making music, the joy of which he hopes to pass on to everyone who passes through the Dr. Bobbie Bailey and Family Performance Center.

“I can never overstate all the wonderful things that music has done for me and all the things I’ve gotten to do,” he said. “So, I just told them to embrace the grind and stick to their first principles of what made them choose to pursue their careers in music – think about loving what you do. Why else would you play music?”

– Story by Dave Shelles

Photos by Matt Yung

A leader in innovative teaching and learning, Kennesaw State University offers undergraduate, graduate and doctoral degrees to its more than 47,000 students. Kennesaw State is a member of the University System of Georgia with 11 academic colleges. The university’s vibrant campus culture, diverse population, strong global ties and entrepreneurial spirit draw students from throughout the country and the world. Kennesaw State is a Carnegie-designated doctoral research institution (R2), placing it among an elite group of only 7 percent of U.S. colleges and universities with an R1 or R2 status. For more information, visit kennesaw.edu.