Meet Nadje Noordhuis | Trumpeter, composer, and educator

We had the good fortune of connecting with Nadje Noordhuis and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Nadje, how do you think about risk?
Taking risks has been an essential part of advancing my music career. And my life has always revolved around my work. It would have been impossible to have most of my favorite experiences had I not taken giant leaps of faith. The first major risk I took was leaving my hometown of Sydney, Australia. I moved to a small country town to study sound engineering. I turned up without knowing anyone, and without a place to stay. By the end of my two years of living there, I had built up an amazing network of musicians, designers, and creative contacts with whom I remain close after twenty years. The second large risk was pivoting my career after five years of pursuing my original dream. My plan was to be a rock music producer, but I had a really hard time getting my foot in the door of that industry. After hitting my head hard on a glass ceiling, and being fired for being female, I decided to go back to college for music performance. I moved again, this time to Melbourne, where I collected an amazing network of friends who still offer me work whenever I visit. These risks were steppingstones to the biggest leap, which was moving to the United States in my mid-twenties to undertake a master’s degree. I had no money to my name but worked furiously to apply for scholarships and grants to facilitate my move. That was nineteen years ago. I’m now playing in multiple GRAMMY-winning and GRAMMY-nominated ensembles, teaching at my alma mater, Manhattan School of Music, maintaining a busy private teaching studio, undertaking a PhD, touring, working as a session musician, and releasing albums on my own record label. This year, I’m producing my own rock album. Full circle moments abound, and I’m very grateful to my younger self for being bold.

Alright, so let’s move onto what keeps you busy professionally?
My music is centered around good sound and lyricism. When I was studying music performance, there was an emphasis on creating your own individual sound, and this was something that I was confused by for quite some time. How does one create their own identity? I shouldn’t have worried so much about it because it was something that naturally evolved over years of producing albums and writing compositions. My trumpet playing can be identified by its clarity of tone, which is in area in which I’ve put a lot of time and thought. My music tends to be very melodic, and not particularly complicated. That’s the kind of music that really speaks to me. My career has been a long and winding road, full of unexpected pivots and challenges. I’ve been able to get where I am because of my non-musical skills, such as being on time, being prepared, being polite, and always striving to improve. I’ve sought out opportunities such as grants and residencies in order to undertake my creative projects. I’ve been told no countless times. I have files of rejection letters. However, I also have some acceptance letters in there too. I’d like people to know that there’s room for everyone – that you can be true to your own aesthetic and follow your intuition on what you want to create. All my albums are wildly different, and I don’t feel the need to write or play in the same way in order to have a consistent musical path. I can write albums that appeal to a certain audience, and other albums can connect with people who love another musical genre. My consistency is in the quality of material.

Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
If a friend was visiting New York, we would have croissants at the Hungarian Pastry Shop and a great coffee from Gertrude on the Upper West Side to take for a stroll through Central Park. We’d visit MoMA to see some of their incredible modern art collection, and have lunch on their rooftop. Afterwards we’d grab a cocktail at Little Branch in the village, a slice of pizza at Bleecker St Pizza, then head to the 55 Bar or the Village Vanguard to hear some jazz. We’d cab it to Chinatown for a late-night dinner, and then find a tiny bar on the Lower East Side to close the evening. If they were staying for a week, we’d have variations of this day – great coffee, theater shows, amazing music, art galleries, walks along the water, and visits to fabulous bars and cozy restaurants.

The Shoutout series is all about recognizing that our success and where we are in life is at least somewhat thanks to the efforts, support, mentorship, love and encouragement of others. So is there someone that you want to dedicate your shoutout to?
Shoutout to Zuke Smith for encouraging me to be brave in pursuing a different musical path!

Website: www.nadjenoordhuis.com

Instagram: @nadjenoordhuis

Twitter: @nadje

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/NadjeNoordhuisMusic

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/NadjeNoordhuis

Image Credits
Tanya Volt Mireya Acierto