Paula Van Goes is "a virtuoso saxophonist that possesses excellent technical attributes and a deep understanding of the music [she] performs" (Ovación). As a Selmer-Paris Artist and Clinician she enjoys a career as a chamber musician, soloist and educator. While serving as the Interim Professor of Saxophone at Universidade de Brasília, Dr. Van Goes was the first American to teach saxophone within the federal university system in Brazil. Based in Atlanta, Georgia, she serves as Adjunct Professor of Woodwinds at Morris Brown College and Instructor of Music at Perimeter College.
Paula has shared the stage with Branford Marsalis and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional Claudio Santoro in Brasília, was a featured artists at the XVIII Encuentro Universitario Internacional de Saxofón México 2019 and presented at the 2018 World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia. She has performed and lectured in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada, China, Croatia, France, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Scotland, Ukraine and the United States, with recent solo recitals at Casa Thomas Jefferson, the cultural institute of the United States Embassy in Brasília, Brazil, the College Music Society Great Plains Festival, University of Nebraska-Kearney Festival of New Music, the 5th Festival International and 2nd Saxophone Competition PERUSAX in Huánuco, Peru; Toronto International Electroacoustic Convention in Canada; III Encuentro Internacional de Saxofonistas in Argentina; Saxofoneado in Santa Cruz, Bolivia; the World Saxophone Congress in Strasburg, France; Faenza Saxophone Festival in Italy, and Soochow University in Suzhou, China.
Locally, Paula performs as soloist and with Sombra Suave, the Atlanta Improvisers Orchestra and Movers and Musicians. Sombra Suave is a quartet consisting of saxophone, guitar, cello and pandeiro that plays Brazilian choro music. The group has a monthly residency at Buteco in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta. The Atlanta Improvisors Orchestra spontaneously creates exquisite orchestral soundscapes and compositions using the concept of conduction or conducted improvisation while Movers and Musicians is an improvised multidisciplinary performance spectacle between movement artists and musicians. The combinations of artist performers are chosen by chance, making every performance unique.
Paula holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Maryland, a Master of Arts in Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Past academic appointments include Universidade de Brasilia in Brasilia, Brazil, Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland, and Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Dr. Van Goes’ teachers include Dale Underwood, Timothy Timmons, and Robert Fought.
Paula has shared the stage with Branford Marsalis and the Orquestra Sinfônica do Teatro Nacional Claudio Santoro in Brasília, was a featured artists at the XVIII Encuentro Universitario Internacional de Saxofón México 2019 and presented at the 2018 World Saxophone Congress in Zagreb, Croatia. She has performed and lectured in Argentina, Brazil, Bolivia, Canada, China, Croatia, France, Italy, Mexico, Peru, Scotland, Ukraine and the United States, with recent solo recitals at Casa Thomas Jefferson, the cultural institute of the United States Embassy in Brasília, Brazil, the College Music Society Great Plains Festival, University of Nebraska-Kearney Festival of New Music, the 5th Festival International and 2nd Saxophone Competition PERUSAX in Huánuco, Peru; Toronto International Electroacoustic Convention in Canada; III Encuentro Internacional de Saxofonistas in Argentina; Saxofoneado in Santa Cruz, Bolivia; the World Saxophone Congress in Strasburg, France; Faenza Saxophone Festival in Italy, and Soochow University in Suzhou, China.
Locally, Paula performs as soloist and with Sombra Suave, the Atlanta Improvisers Orchestra and Movers and Musicians. Sombra Suave is a quartet consisting of saxophone, guitar, cello and pandeiro that plays Brazilian choro music. The group has a monthly residency at Buteco in the Grant Park neighborhood of Atlanta. The Atlanta Improvisors Orchestra spontaneously creates exquisite orchestral soundscapes and compositions using the concept of conduction or conducted improvisation while Movers and Musicians is an improvised multidisciplinary performance spectacle between movement artists and musicians. The combinations of artist performers are chosen by chance, making every performance unique.
Paula holds a Doctor of Musical Arts from the University of Maryland, a Master of Arts in Music from the University of Missouri-Kansas City and a Bachelor of Music from the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Past academic appointments include Universidade de Brasilia in Brasilia, Brazil, Middle Tennessee State University in Murfreesboro, Tennessee, Prince George’s Community College in Largo, Maryland, and Nicholls State University in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Dr. Van Goes’ teachers include Dale Underwood, Timothy Timmons, and Robert Fought.
Photograph by Carol Gonze
