Gordon

By Chris Dalnodar

Many people know Dan Gordon as SUNY Plattsburgh’s quirky band conductor, saxophone guru and enthusiastic professor of music. There are few, however, who realize the full scope of this one man’s undertakings. I sat down with Mr. Gordon to get a look at how he manages to balance the academic and personal sides of his life.

“Life is a constant juggling act.” Gordon assures me.

Sitting in his office one gets the impression that this is a very busy man with connections to many different areas. Papers cover the desks, sheet music is everywhere and books on obscure composers and other music topics line his shelves. Aside from his teaching duties at Plattsburgh state he conducts the Adirondack Wind Ensemble, plays in the Frontier Saxophone Quartet (which he founded), and is a dedicated father/ family man. He admits though that “sometimes you drop a ball or two.”

As the afternoon sun filtered in through the windows I started to get more of the whole picture starting from the beginning. In college, Gordon decided to drop his psychology major in pursuit of his passion for music. After graduating from Syracuse University he studied in Bordeaux, France under the world famous saxophone virtuoso Jean-Marie Londeix. It was around this time that he and a close friend decided to take their saxophones to the streets of Europe. They spent two summers traveling throughout Europe performing Telemann flute duets on soprano saxophones. Gordon later chronicled these adventures in his book Sax on the Streets: Confessions of an American Street Musician in Europe.

After his European escapades Gordon decided he needed to do something to land a lucrative job. He returned to school, this time in Colorado, and took up conducting.