Tom Pearsall holds degrees in piano performance from the University of Kentucky and Bowling Green State University and a doctorate in performance and pedagogy from the University of Oklahoma. An advocate of contemporary music, he has premiered several compositions for piano, recorded with the Bowling Green State New Music Ensemble and performed the music of George Crumb on Wisconsin Public Radio. A native of North Carolina, he has also appeared as an orchestral soloist and in numerous solo and chamber music recitals throughout the American south and midwest. Pearsall is currently associate professor of music at Georgia Southern University. He previously taught at Bowling Green State University, the University of Toledo, the University of Wisconsin-Marathon County and the Wausau Conservatory of Music.
Many students enter music programs with deficiencies in fundamental skills.
The repertoire in a traditional course of study is too technically advanced and does not address weaknesses in tone production, rhythm, and music reading. Saxophonist students in need of such work often study transcriptions and gain no sense of the wealth of original literature for their instrument. A shortage of accompanists and the difficulty of traditional saxophone repertoire makes it difficult for students to have regular rehearsal time with a pianist. The accompaniements for most pieces in this presentation are playable by a student pianist or the studio saxophone teacher. B. College non-majors 1.