Saxophone Ensemble Embarks on First International Tour

The Shenandoah Conservatory Saxophone Ensemble has been invited to perform and study in Seville, Spain, and Paris, France, from Tuesday, May 23, through Friday, June 2. This will be the group’s first international tour. Activities include a public performance at the Conservatorio Superior de Música Manuel Castillo in Seville featuring a new arrangement of Gershwin’s “Rhapsody in Blue” set for saxophone ensemble. The students will also collaborate with their student saxophone counterparts at the Conservatorio with two days of masterclasses and lessons taught by Chair of Instrumental Division and Professor of Saxophone Timothy Roberts, D.M.A., and the Sevilla Conservatorio’s Professor of Saxophone Alfonso Padilla. The Seville portion of the trip will conclude with a collaborative dinner together for all Spanish and SU saxophone students with an opportunity for them to share stories of both their culture and their musical studies in each of their countries.

The Paris portion of the trip includes a guided tour of the Selmer saxophone factory, a day of collaborative masterclasses and lessons at the Vandoren reed showroom with Nicholas Prost, professor of saxophone at the Conservatoire de St-Maur in Paris, and an evening performance of the Moulin Rouge. Saxophonist Sean McGinley ’21 (Bachelor of Music in Music Education), now based out of Strasbourg, France, will accompany students as a translator and logistics assistant.

“The invitation that this wonderfully talented group of SU students received to perform at one of the top conservatories in Spain reflects the international profile that so many instrumental studios at the conservatory have been building,” said Roberts. “We are deeply grateful that Shenandoah offers these Global Experiential Learning trips for our students, which offer course credit for once-in-a-lifetime experiences that will change these students’ lives.”