Nathan Jorgensen
​Nate Jorgensen is Director of Jazz Studies at the University of New Hampshire. Prior to his appointment at UNH, Dr. Jorgensen served as Assistant Professor of Woodwinds and Jazz at South Dakota State University. At SDSU, he directed both university jazz ensembles, taught saxophone and double reeds, and was the host and administrator of the annual SDSU/Brookings Optimist Jazz Festival.

During Jorgensen's seven years at SDSU, his top saxophone quartet won the state MTNA Young Artist chamber music division on two separate occasions, and his students won, placed, and received honorable mentions for their solo performances at state competition. In 2012, he led SDSU Jazz Ensemble I on a tour of Germany and Switzerland culminating with two performances at the Montreux Jazz Festival. Under Jorgensen’s leadership the SDSU/Brookings Optimist Jazz Festival more than doubled in size and built a reputation as one of the best educational festivals in South Dakota.

Jorgensen regularly performs by invitation at regional and national conventions for professional organizations such as the North American Saxophone Alliance, College Music Society, and the National Association of College Wind and Percussion Instructors. In addition to his classical performing and teaching, Jorgensen maintains an active jazz performance schedule having regularly appeared with the Dakota Jazz Collective, the South Dakota Jazz Orchestra, and the Jazz Diversity Project, the last of which is funded in part by the National Endowment for the Arts. Since arriving on the Seacoast, he has made himself a vital part of the area’s jazz performing community.

Jorgensen holds a DMA from the University of Kansas, a Master of Music from the UMKC Conservatory of Music and Dance and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Kansas. His teachers have included Vince Gnojek, Tim Timmons, Bobby Watson, and Dan Gailey.