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| Hudson Valley Jazz Festival To Launch Education Program Hudson Valley Jazz Workshop Debuts this August This summer will mark the debut of the Hudson Valley Jazz Festival Workshop to be held in Warwick, New York during the week of August 5- 11 . The workshop will be directed by veteran musician and music educator, Bob Rosen. Rosen has been teaching at New York City's Friends School for the past 26 years, having brought a jazz program to the school in the mid-80's. He is the founder and artistic director of The Meetinghouse Jazz Orchestra, a 17 piece big band in New York in which he also plays saxophones and clarinet. In existence since 1994 the ensemble has performed at many venues in the New York area and in the Warwick Arts Festival. Rosen was Asst. Conductor of New York City's All-City Jazz Ensemble, a program run by New York's Board of Education, from 1985-'96. "The model for this summer's workshop is a time-honored one that works, " says Rosen. "It works for both the Western European classical tradition and for the historically more recent American jazz tradition. Offer a curriculum of instrumental instruction coupled with performance ensemble rehearsal with an emphasis on jazz improvisation. At the end of the week integrate the students in performance with professional jazz musicians who will be performing at the various venues connected to the Hudson Valley Jazz Festival. This will be a win-win for aspiring jazz musicians and the professionals alike. The students will benefit from listening to and interacting with professionals in performance and the professionals will benefit from passing along their knowledge and passion for the music that they've devoted most of their lives to." "We anticipate putting in place an outstanding faculty from the area that will be based on the response we get from students in the area. Many musician/teachers are interested in sharing their expertise with aspiring musicians. Since our emphasis will be on improvisation we want every student to know what its like to play in a small ensemble and what its like to improvise over the structure of a tune. We want these students to get in touch with their own creative process and to feel relaxed enough and empowered enough to improvise in a group setting. Our day will consist of ensemble rehearsal, the basics of jazz theory, instrumental coaching and lectures on jazz history. That's what we plan on offering this summer in our first year of operation." The workshop is open to aspiring improvising musicians of all ages. Says Rosen, "It would be fantastic if we could create two or three small ensembles with complete rhythm sections based on different levels of ability and experience - ensembles that will seize the moment and be part of the performance venues during the jazz festival. Nothing is quite so exciting for the aspiring musician than to play before an appreciative audience!" write your comments about the article :: © 2013 Jazz News :: home page |