Jazz Lab Faculty & Staff

Assistant Professor of Music (trumpet)
Fine Arts 123
918-444-2709 (office)
hayb@nsuok.edu

Courses Taught:
Applied Trumpet
Trumpet Ensemble
Jazz Combo
Music Theory (Harmony) I & II
Music Appreciation

Dr. Benjamin Hay is a trumpeter, educator, and composer/arranger based in Northeastern Oklahoma. Ben holds degrees from Oklahoma State University (B.M. Performance) and the University of New Mexico (M.M. Performance). He currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music (Trumpet/Theory) at Northeastern State University in Tahlequah, OK. Prior to his appointment at NSU, Dr. Hay served as Adjunct Instructor of Music at Tulsa Community College, where he taught applied trumpet, applied horn, music theory, jazz improvisation, and chamber brass. Ben received his doctorate (D.M.A. Performance) at the School of Music at the University of Oklahoma.

Ben is a member of Tulsa's Signature Symphony and frequently performs with the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and the Tulsa Symphony Orchestra. Additional performances include appearances with Tulsa Opera, Tulsa Oratorio Chorus, Frontier Brass Band of Oklahoma, and the New Mexico Symphony Orchestra, to name a few. A frequent recitalist, Dr. Hay has performed guest solo recitals at the University of Arkansas, University of New Mexico, Pittsburg State University, and Oklahoma State University, among others. Ben has performed as a soloist with the Signature Symphony, the Symphony of Northwest Arkansas, Tulsa's Starlight Band, as well as numerous high school and college ensembles. An avid chamber musician, he has performed with Tulsa Camerata, the faculty brass quintets of the University of New Mexico and Northeastern State University, and the brass quintets of Symphony of Northwest Arkansas and Tulsa Symphony. Dr. Hay has had the privilege of sharing the stage with a wide range of the world's top performers such as Eric Whitacre, Michael Daugherty, JoAnn Falletta, Benjamin Zander, the Irish Tenors, Bernadette Peters, and Johnny Mathis.

Ben's primary trumpet teachers have been Andrew Cheetham, Jacob Walburn, Thomas Booth, John Marchiando, and Karl Sievers. Additionally, Ben has studied composition and arranging with Marvin Lamb, and horn performance with Eldon Matlick. Dr. Hay also serves a music reviewer for the International Trumpet Guild Journal. Ben is a member of the International Trumpet Guild, ASCAP, Phi Kappa Phi Honor Society, and the American Federation of Musicians (Local 94).

Benjamin Hay is a Conn-Selmer/Vincent Bach Endorsing Artist.

hollandd@nsuok.edu
918-444-2700

B.A. Jazz Studies - UA Ft. Smith
M.M. Guitar Performance - UA Fayetteville

Guitarist David Holland hails from Fort Smith, Arkansas, where he works as a performer, teacher, and composer. He holds a B.A. in Jazz Studies from the University of Arkansas Fort Smith; and a M.M. in Guitar Performance from the University of Arkansas, Fayetteville, where he studied jazz guitar with Dr. James Greeson and Mr. Ben Harris. He has also studied classical guitar with maestros Juan Mercadal and Rene Gonzalez at the University of Miami in Coral Gables, Florida. David performs regionally with his jazz trio The Unit, The Tabitha Graves Quartet, and the bluegrass band The Crumbs. David debuted as a classical composer this past summer with a performance of his setting of Ruth Krauss’s children's book, The Carrot Seed, for string quartet and narrator, presented by the Fort Smith Symphony’s Story Book Strings. He lives in Fort Smith, Arkansas with his wife Kara and daughter Kalliope. 

demerrit@nsuok.edu

Degrees:
BME, Bachelor of Music Education
University of Tulsa

Dean’s roots are in jazz, blues, classical, rock, and country and western.  Growing up as the son of a jazz pianist in Tulsa, he learned the roots of jazz from performing in his father’s band in high school. Dean’s teen years were spent learning jazz standards from an older generation of venerated artists.  Dean went on to study classical and jazz bass at the University of Tulsa, graduating with a degree in music.

Currently, Dean performs regularly in a number of Tulsa venues every week including the Bull and Bear Tavern, Lefty’s on Greenwood,and Low Down. He also teaches string bass and electric bass at the University of Tulsa and Jazz Improv and Bass at NSU-Tahlequah.

 

Office: Fine Arts 120
Phone: 918-444-4603

Megan Gasca was appointed Performing Facilities Technical Director beginning September 2019. She oversees all technical aspects of running the Center for the Performing Arts and the Jazz Lab. Megan is completing her BA in Drama at NSU.