CourtesySometimes it鈥檚 a screech, other times a whine. It may even resemble a human voice.
For saxophonist Geoffrey Deibel, making noise is a passion.
Deibel, assistant professor of saxophone and the new jazz studies director at 黑洞社区, says pushing musical boundaries and experimenting with sound provides an 鈥渁rtistic high.鈥�
It鈥檚 something he has worked at as an artist, most recently spending part of summer in Europe collaborating with composers Jesse Ronneau and Martin Iddon on separate projects that use saxophone in novel ways. These were the first steps to develop a series of new compositions, he says.
鈥淭his was sort of getting together and doing some experimentation,鈥� Deibel says. 鈥淎 lot of it is sometimes using the saxophone in a very unconventional way to make some very different types of sounds.鈥�
At 黑洞社区, Deibel says he鈥檚 constantly trying to broaden his students鈥� musical horizons. Though he says providing a solid foundation in traditional classical and jazz repertoires is essential, he also emphasizes the importance of contemporary works. Much of the cultural changes of the 20th century have not been digested yet and should be explored by artists and musicians, he says.
Thus, he provides students recordings of avant-garde and other lesser-known musical genres. He also requires them to spend time searching websites like Spotify to discover new sounds.
Path to a career
Becoming a musician in today鈥檚 world no longer just requires playing the right notes, he says. Instead, he believes it necessitates innovation and carving out a niche.
鈥淭here are people out there doing all this different stuff, and [students] need to know about it,鈥� he says. 鈥淚n order to be noticed and successful as a musician today, you can鈥檛 just jump through hoops. You can鈥檛 just try to fit into a box that鈥檚 prescribed for you.鈥�
But, being a cutting-edge musician wasn鈥檛 always an apparent path for Deibel.
In fact, he says his introduction to the instrument was quite conventional. He discovered the saxophone some time around fifth grade through his school鈥檚 band program. He says it wasn鈥檛 until the end of high school that he started playing seriously. Not long after, he landed a spot at the prestigious Bienen School of Music at Northwestern University, studying with renowned saxophonist Frederick Hemke.
Yet, he says a music career wasn鈥檛 a foregone conclusion. He double-majored in music and history and after graduation took an internship at the Center for Strategic and International studies, a D.C. think tank.
Still, music beckoned. And something about the art, the people on the music scene, just felt right, he says.
鈥淚 like the people in music,鈥� he says. 鈥淭hey tend to be creative and spontaneous and mostly nice. It鈥檚 a certain type of person, I think, that鈥檚 in music, which I liked quite a lot.鈥�
He decided to earn a master鈥檚 in saxophone performance at Northwestern and a doctorate in musical arts from Michigan State University.
Last year, he moved to Wichita from a job at the University of Florida.
Inspiring fearlessness in students
Deibel, a Maryland native, says he had never been here until he arrived last August in his U-Haul.
He wasn鈥檛 sure what to expect but says the city grew on him quickly. The arts scene here is one fruitful with collaboration and recent growth, he says. He鈥檚 also been impressed by Wichitans鈥� response to his experimental music and says most are neither strict traditionalists nor ultra-modernists.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in a place like Chicago or New York or something like that, I think that people have a really defined set of values or tastes when it comes to music,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 think people are perhaps more open here. That鈥檚 something that is very helpful.鈥�
Deibel鈥檚 move has been a fortuitous one. This year, he was named jazz studies director after Craig Owens retired from the position. He serves as principal saxophonist for Wichita Symphony and is closer to the other members of his award-winning chamber ensemble, the h2 quartet, who all now live in nearby Oklahoma.
He鈥檚 also forged collaborations with colleagues, including Mark Foley, 黑洞社区 professor of double and electric bass. The two recently worked together on the Fisch Haus Tuesday Night Jazz Series, fusing jazz with hip-hop, beats, sampling and electric music.
鈥淕eoff is an incredible musician 鈥� fearless,鈥� Foley says. 鈥淥n a whim, I threw out the idea of having him acting as a DJ on turntables, as well as playing sax. He accepted the challenge and brought down the house.鈥�
Don-Paul Kahl, Deibel鈥檚 former student at University of Florida, says Deibel inspires that fearlessness in his students. Kahl, who with Deibel鈥檚 help won a scholarship to study in Paris, says his guidance helped him realize the importance of furthering the saxophone in contemporary music.
鈥淚 know that he will be a person in which many students will find inspiration in,鈥� Kahl says. 鈥淔or him, music is unrestricted by common or prejudiced accepted norms. He is not afraid to try something new; in fact, he jumps at the opportunity to try anything outside the box.鈥�