About the series: On Main Hall Green With … is an opportunity to connect with faculty on things in and out of the classroom. We’re featuring a different Lawrence faculty member each time — same questions, different answers.
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Nadje Noordhuis, an accomplished trumpeter, joined the Lawrence University faculty in fall 2024 as an assistant professor of music.
She brings to the Conservatory’s trumpet studio an impressive performance history—trumpeter for the Maria Schneider Orchestra, Darcy James Argue’s Secret Society, and Fifth Bridge, among others. She specializes in teaching, writing, and performing across genres including jazz, classical, rock, pop, global, and Irish folk. She was a semi-finalist in the 2007 Thelonious Monk International Jazz Trumpet Competition and the 2010 National Jazz Awards in Australia, a Carnegie Hall Young Artist in 2010, and has played on two Grammy-winning recordings and eight Grammy-nominated albums.
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Before joining the Conservatory faculty, Noordhuis spent time as an instructor at Berklee College of Music, Manhattan School of Music, and Hunter College. She holds a Master of Music in Jazz Trumpet from Manhattan School of Music and bachelor’s degrees from Victorian College of the Arts and Southern Cross University, both in Australia.
We caught up with Noordhuis to talk about interests in and out of the classroom.
In the classroom
Inside info: What’s one thing you want every student coming into your classes to know about you?
That I’m not expecting perfection, that I’m just wanting an open mind. Most of my lessons are about discovering new ways to play the trumpet with a greater sense of ease, and it makes the process so much easier if the student is willing to step outside their comfort zone.
Getting energized: What work have you done or will you be doing at Lawrence that gets you the most excited?
Teaching lessons is what makes me super happy—little discoveries and breakthroughs in playing are what I’m aiming for, and I try to make that happen every lesson. For some reason, it usually happens about 50 minutes into the lesson—it takes a while. Playing music with other faculty members is also lots of fun.
Going places: Is there an example of somewhere your career has taken you (either a physical space or something more intellectual, emotional, or spiritual) that took you by surprise?
Playing a concert in a converted bullfighting ring in the Azores (the islands off the coast of Portugal) was certainly a moment that I’ll remember. Climbing down into an extinct volcano covered in moss during the day, eating a delicious seafood lunch with my friends and jazz luminaries like Bill Frisell, playing the gig, and then going for a night swim in the ocean was certainly one of those moments that I realized that playing trumpet for a living certainly takes me to unexpected and wonderful places.
Out of the classroom
This or that: If you weren’t teaching for a living, what would you be doing?
I’d be restoring wood furniture or designing my own. I did woodwork in high school instead of music.
Right at home: Whether for work, relaxation, or reflection, what’s your favorite spot on campus?
I spent a lot of time setting my office to make it feel like a tranquil and restful place for my students as well as myself. There are lots of plants, a kettle to make tea, a great stereo, and piano. I could spend all day here. In fact, I often do.
One book, one recording, one film: Name one of each that speaks to your soul? Or you would recommend to a friend? Or both?
I’m currently reading The Heaven and Earth Grocery Store, by James McBride. It’s absolutely brilliant. He paints the most vivid picture of each character, and the town itself seems like the protagonist. I can’t get enough of the album Roses, by The Paper Kites. Whenever I would listen to an acoustic music playlist, and I’d wonder who’s tune I was listening to, it was always by The Paper Kites. I haven’t watched many films lately, but the one I remember is Tampopo from 1985, which the publicity team described as a “ramen Western.” What’s not to love about that?
Find more faculty profiles in the On Main Hall Green With ... series here
Ed Berthiaume
Ed Berthiaume is director of public information at Lawrence University.
