NSU Department of Music

10/06/2026

What are Music Faculty and Students doing this summer?

NSU Oboe Professor Leah Forsyth spent the first week of June as faculty at Renova Music Festival in New Castle, PA. This chamber orchestra festival hosts college students for two weeks of orchestral playing, chamber music performances, and personal growth! Faculty coach, teach and perform on faculty chamber concerts.

Three students from NSU were also in attendance. Ronald Zaldana, Perla Hipp, and Jesus Calderon.

05/06/2026

What are Music Faculty doing this summer? Dr. Doug Bakenhus, Director of Orchestra, and Dr. Dennette McDermott, Professor Emerita, are members of the Louisiana Baroque Chamber Orchestra. In May, they ended their season with two great concerts.

May 24, 3:00pm. As part of the "1st edition LABCO Baroque Festival May 21-31", they played the 3rd concert in the series "Venice to Versailles," including sonatas for flute and basso continuo by Tartini, Boismortier, LeClair, and Blavet. Continuo was played by theorboist Brian King, adjunct guitar professor at Loyola in New Orleans. The venue was St. Joseph Hall by St. Francis Xavier Church in Metairie.

May 31, 6:00am (this is not a typo- yes, it was 6am) the penultimate concert of the festival, "Baroque Sunrise" at Audubon Park - Newman Bandstand, Golf Club Dr, New Orleans. They played the same program as on May 24, except accompanied by a variety of songbirds and ducks. The audience consisted of 17 people, a dog, and the occasional curious jogger.

04/06/2026

🎶 LOUISIANA'S LARGEST ALL-STATE PREPARATION EVENT IS BACK! 🎶

The 3rd Annual NSU All-State Day returns on Saturday, September 19, 2026, and registration is now open!

Join hundreds of Louisiana's high school musicians for a full day of expert instruction designed to help you and your students prepare for All-State auditions and take musicianship and success to the next level.

🎺 Band
🎻 Orchestra
🎤 Choir
🎹 Piano

✔ FREE Admission
✔ Outstanding Clinicians
✔ Audition Preparation & Masterclasses
✔ Performance Tips from Louisiana's Leading Music Educators
✔ Special concert and performances

Whether you're preparing for your first All-State audition or aiming for a higher ranking, the NSU All-State Clinics provide the tools, guidance, and inspiration to help you succeed.

📅 Saturday, September 19, 2026
⏰ 10:00 AM – 3:00 PM
📍 Northwestern State University

Register today at www.nsuallstate.com

01/06/2026

What are music faculty doing this summer?

Dr. Shane Thomas, Director of Choral Activities at NSU, is a part of the Spoleto Festival USA Chorus Fellows program in Charleston, South Carolina. He is participating in the US premiere of Purcell’s Dido and Aeneas in collaboration with the Australian acrobatics organization Circa, performances of Mozart’s Mass in C Minor, and concluding with the longstanding choral concerts that date back to the 1970s under the first festival director Gian Carlo Menotti.

28/05/2026

Music Faculty are already sharing their artistry abroad. On May 14th, Sofia Tchetchelashvili and Andrej Kurti performed a chamber music concert at The Cultural Center of Serbia in Paris, France.
https://www.facebook.com/share/p/1F9QG4KgUS/

15/05/2026

The end of another academic year. Twenty-Five Spring 2026 graduates and a lot of smiles.

08/05/2026

Music Business Technology: final week project. Another video in the comments.

25/03/2026

https://www.nsula.edu/press-room/nsu-honors-teacher-candidates-with-apple-pinning-ceremony/

NATCHITOCHES – Students seeking bachelor’s degrees through Northwestern State University’s School of Education were honored during an Apple Pinning ceremony March 24 to commemorate their acceptance into teacher candidacy.

07/02/2026

Huge congrats to NSU student Jose who studied with one of our wonderful Piano Professors Dr. Francis Yang. We can’t wait to hear you play the Grieg piano concerto with Rapides Symphony - an orchestra may of our faculty perform with.

Congratulations to our 2026 Concerto Competition winners! 🎶

Youth Division winner José Luzuriaga and Young Adult Division winner Elijah Asmussen delivered outstanding performances, and we are thrilled to feature them alongside the Rapides Symphony Orchestra on March 14.

Join us in celebrating these remarkable young musicians!