The smooth sounds of saxophone notes are familiar to two seniors concentrating in the woodwind. Jon Moore, a performance major, and Nathan Thomas, a music education major, have been coaxing jazzy tunes out of their horns since before they enrolled at Elon University.
Their first encounter was four years ago in Elon's marching band, the Fire of the Carolinas, when Moore played tuba and Thomas played euphonium.
"We met each other outside of what we usually play, in the low brass section of marching band," Thomas said. "But as we talked we quickly discovered that we both were actually saxophone players. We've been friends ever since, being together in the studio."
In middle school, Moore and Thomas both began their band careers. Moore started on tenor sax and Thomas on clarinet. Moore played in his high school's saxophone quartet called Sax in the City.
"What is really cool about that is that every person who played in that quartet went on to major in music in college," Moore said.
He went to his state's governor's school his junior and senior year, where he and several others formed a ska band, Corporate Fandango, that has lasted to this day. The band has made a name for itself in the underground ska scene, performing with groups such as Holy Ghost Tent Revival. At Elon, Moore is involved in a saxophone quartet, a touring ensemble, jazz ensemble and marching band, along with Corporate Fandango.
"My days are always very full but it never really seems like that much to me simply because I very much enjoy everything I'm doing with music," Moore said.
Thomas is also heavily involved, performing in sax quartet, jazz ensemble, marching band, percussion ensemble, chorale and orchestra.
An important experience Moore and Thomas shared was the European tour the jazz ensemble took two years ago. It was an 11-day journey through Germany, Denmark and the Netherlands. The group acted as jazz ambassadors, bringing American music to European countries.
"There really isn't very much music that we can call completely American, but with jazz, it really is like we are bringing our own national culture to people with a limited exposure to it," Thomas said.
The ensemble played in many different locations, ranging from a gazebo by the street in Germany a crowd of 5,000 in Scheveningen.
After college, both Moore and Thomas anticipate going to graduate school. Thomas hopes to teach high school music, getting his foot in the door to eventually study music therapy in graduate school.
"I hope to help children with disorders," Thomas said. "Down's, Asperger's, it doesn't matter what. I just know music has a power that can help struggling kids in so many ways."
He said he hopes to continue playing the saxophone in community bands wherever he goes.
Moore plans to continue playing with Corporate Fandango, which is planning some big upcoming tours, bringing in money to help with the costs of grad school.
"Everyone wants to play for a living," Moore said. "You have to expect things to not go, as well as you would like while still remaining optimistic that things might just go well."
They both said their personal inspiration is listening to other students. Whenever they get discouraged they will listen around in the practice area where they can hear at least one other student continually working hard. They said this brings them motivation to keep playing.