Jazz Articles about David Demsey

Introducing the NJ All-State Jazz Ensemble and Choir

by Sanford Josephson
November 5, 2025

"If they hire me," said Dr. David Demsey, “they know they're getting some Thad Jones." Demsey, who recently retired after 33 years as Coordinator of Jazz Studies at William Paterson University, is directing this year's New Jersey Music Educators Association (NJMEA)/New Jersey Association for Jazz Education (NJAJE) All-State Jazz Ensemble. This is the third time Demsey has directed the ensemble, and he emphasized that, “This is not a program of arrangements that would be written for high school ...