Mia Gazley

The North American Saxophone Alliance (NASA) and their Committee for Gender Equity recently completed a commissioning project with female composer Roshanne Etezady. This community engagement initiative resulted in a concerto piece for solo professional saxophonist, accompanied by a middle/high school concert band titled "Negative Split".

In using this piece as a launching point, my goal is to reach out to several schools in the Vancouver and Fraser Valley to perform this piece with various ensembles. With this initiative, I want to invite an open and honest conversation about being a female saxophonist in performance and education, encouraging young students to continue pursuing their instrument or other passions regardless of gender, race, or disability. By working alongside students in the band classroom, I hope to promote a high level of musicality as a role model to the students.

With this project, I am willing to attend several band classes to help the students prepare the piece, as well as host masterclasses and Q&A periods with the students. The teachers are encouraged to ask me questions and to let me know what they are looking for in this partnership, and we will create a program together that fits the needs of the students, teachers, and school. This project will culminate in a performance of the piece with the school ensemble at one of their concerts.

For more information about NASA and their community engagement project, along with more information about Roshanne Etezady and "Negative Split", please visit HERE.

If you are interested in collaborating with me on this project, or have further questions about how to proceed, please feel free to CONTACT ME.