Sigma Alpha Iota

sai-national.org • Winter 2024 29 NATIONAL ARTS ASSOCIATE a person who is nationally recognized for distinguished contribution to the arts FRIEND OF THE ARTS a person who is supportive of and actively involved in the arts at a local or regional level ANDREW J. ALLEN Andrew J. Allen was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Beta Rho Chapter at Georgia College & State University in December. Mr. Allen has been lauded as "a master of all sizes of saxophone," by The Instrumentalist, while The Saxophonist has hailed his "virtuosic saxophone performance" and The Saxophone Symposium has cited his "complete control of the instrument." As a concerto soloist, Allen has appeared with the Wichita Falls Symphony Orchestra, and he has performed throughout the United States, Canada, Great Britain, France, and Croatia as a soloist and chamber musician. Present chamber ensemble activities include the percussion and saxophone group Rogue Two (with Gordon Hicken), the flute and saxophone ensemble The Allen Duo (with Elise Naber Allen), and the Palmetto Saxophone Quartet. Equally adept as a jazz and commercial musician, Allen has served as a sideman with a variety of artists. including R&B luminaries The Temptations and country music legend Ronnie Milsap. Allen is one of the most active historians and public pedagogues of the saxophone today. His writings have appeared in The Instrumentalist, Music Educators Journal, Teaching Music, The Saxophone Symposium, College Music Symposium, The NACWPI Journal, JazzEd, and School Band and Orchestra. He has given masterclasses at some of the most prestigious schools of music in the United States, including Duquesne University, Emory University, Shenandoah Conservatory, Vanderbilt University's Blair School of Music, and the University of Cincinnati's College- Conservatory of Music, among many others. He is assistant editor of The Saxophone Symposium, the peer-reviewed journal of The North American Saxophone Alliance. Andrew J. Allen is Associate Professor of Saxophone, Coordinator of Winds & Percussion, and Coordinator of the Bachelor of Arts in Music at Georgia College & State University, and he serves as President-Elect of the North American Saxophone Alliance. His previous academic appointments include positions at Midwestern State University, Valley City State University, and Claflin University. Allen holds degrees from Tennessee Technological University, Central Michigan University, and the University of South Carolina. Allen is a Conn-Selmer Artist- Clinician, a Vandoren Performing Artist, and a Key Leaves Endorsing Artist. DR. TRACI MENDEL Dr. Traci Mendel was initiated as a National Arts Associate by the Delta Zeta Chapter at Troy University in November. A recent addition to the faculty at Troy University in Troy, Alabama, Dr. Mendel teaches music theory, aural skills, composition, and voice as a professor at the John M. Long School of Music. With twelve years of experience, Dr. Mendel has taught undergraduate and graduate courses in music composition, as well as undergraduate courses in music theory for majors and for non-majors, aural skills, applied composition and voice, orchestration, music appreciation, and directed a new music ensemble. Her compositional style runs the gamut of contemporary classical techniques, and her compositions have been heard in the U.S. and abroad in recitals, concerts, festivals, and at conferences. Dr. Mendel is the recipient of multiple teaching awards and grants, and has co- authored or edited one textbook and two workbooks. Her recent awards include the Troy University Faculty Senate Excellence Award (2011), and the Longfellow Chorus International Composition Competition, First Place, Art Song Division (2008). She has also received The Florida State University Graduate Teaching Award for Excellence in Teaching and was a Keene State College 2014 Call for Scores finalist. She is also Composer-In-Residence for the Nashville Double Reed Ensemble (NDRE). Dr. Traci Mendel holds a Bachelor of Music degree in Theory and Composition from Centenary College of Louisiana, and both a Master of Music degree and Doctorate of Music degree in Music Composition from The Florida State University. Richard Alleshouse Richard Alleshouse was initiated as a Friend of the Arts by the Northwest Ohio Alumnae Chapter in October. Mr. Alleshouse is a graduate of Bowling Green State University and The Ohio State University. He began his career in 1961 with the Toledo Symphony Orchestra, and by 1964 Alleshouse became the Symphony's Principal Double Bass under Music Director and Conductor Serge Fournier. Richard held this position for 52 years. Serving as the Toledo Symphony Orchestra selected representative in 1971, he went on to participate in the 150 member World Symphony Orchestra. The World Symphony Orchestra was under the direction of the late Arthur Fielder, who led them to perform in the Opening Ceremonies of Walt Disney World in Orlando, Florida that year, and concerts at the United Nations in New York and the Kennedy Distinguished Members Alleshouse Alleshouse

• Cover