Congratulations to the Music Division Student of the Month for January... Nathan Reid from State College of Florida! Nathan was nominated by his director, Dr. Robyn Bell.
Here is what Robyn shared with us about Nathan: "Nathan Reid is a tuba and trombone music major at the State College of Florida. His main instrument is tuba and he won the Brass Division of the Student Artist Competition last year. He plays trombone in our SCF Bradenton Symphony Orchestra and in the Jazz Big Band and, this semester, when we had three tubas and only two trombones in the Symphonic Band, he volunteered to give up his first chair tuba position to play 3rd chair trombone. Nathan is also a budding composer and arranger. He composed a middle school level piece for a Florida Bandmasters Association composition competition, and I programmed it on our Fall 2021 Band concert. I asked Nathan to conduct it and we had several conducting lessons, plus used his time on the podium in rehearsal for a "conducting lab" type experience. Nathan also arranged Frosty the Snowman for the Bradenton Symphony Orchestra to perform on our holiday concert, and he conducted that piece on the performance as well. In fact, the arrangement was so good, that I programmed it for my Sarasota Pops Orchestra holiday concert and asked Nathan to conduct it for that show as well. Nathan talked to the audience about his arrangement before he conducted it and received a standing ovation from the Pops audience at both performances (12/12 and 12/13).
Nathan serves many leadership roles within the SCF Music Program. He is the head usher for our concerts, the head theory tutor, and star number one recruiter. Just this January, he has brought three students to me that he talked into either majoring in music or taking tuba/euphonium lessons. Even his tuba teacher told me, "My studio has tripled in size, and it is all because of Nathan!" Nathan is scheduled to speak to our SCF Foundation Board of Trustees on January 25 about his experience at SCF and how his scholarships and opportunities have helped him thrive in his chosen field of study. He is an amazing young man, and we are going to miss him around here next fall!"
We are so happy to recognize Nathan and all of his accomplishments as the Music Division Student of the Month. Congratulations to Nathan and thank you to Dr. Bell for nominating him!