Jazz Performing Workshop, Wed. 8:00-10:00 PM | Instructor: Jon Ballantyne

Have you ever wondered what it feels like to play a ‘hot’ or ‘cool’ improvised jazz solo within a musical ensemble? Well, Jon Ballantyne, who has played with some of the great names in jazz (like big band legend Woody Herman, tenor saxophone genius Joe Henderson and Roy Haynes-Charlie Parker’s drummer), can tell you-it feels fantastic! Following the great success of the fall semester’s class, the Jazz Performance Workshop - open to all who are interested - continues into spring 2009. Intended to advance even a novice’s skills in the art of improvising within the jazz idiom, this course will primarily focus on just that-encouraging the students to play and create spontaneous melodic lines as part of an ensemble.Emphasis will be on learning several great jazz standards (including ‘blues’ numbers) and the gaining of an understanding of the subtleties of group interaction within a jazz ensemble. Various basic theoretical and historical elements will also be introduced and utilized during rehearsals, but mainly, lots of playing will be taking place! All instruments are welcome.

The Orchestra and Its Conductor, Thu. 7:00-8:15 PM  | Instructor: David Dworkin

Through guided listening, Maestro Dworkin will take the class members on a fascinating and dynamic journey through the rich world of orchestral music. He will point out and describe the different instruments and instrumental sections of the orchestra, its characteristic sounds and patterns as it evolved, passing through the great eras in music history, the identifying characteristics of each era, and the innovative musical signatures making one composer stand out from another. The most unique feature of this class will be to look at the rhythmic structures of the music and to learn basic conducting techniques, actually conducting to the music in class. This course is most stimulating and edifying on several levels and is for the musician and non-musician alike.

The Nuts & Bolts of Music, Thursday 7:00-8:30 | Instructor: James Emery

This is the perfect class for anyone who wants to learn how to communicate musical ideas in writing to others, for self-taught musicians in a rock or jazz band, for someone singing in a choir and who wants to be able to read his/her part without having to learn it by rote, or for a beginning pop or rock singer/composer who wants to be able to write down musical ideas. This class will also prepare you for First Year Theory class in the fall as well as provide a basis for review and to do well on the theory placement exam for a student looking forward to entering music school. Renowned classical and jazz composer/guitarist James Emery has decades of experience in jazz and classical small ensembles alike and can readily relate to the various needs of students who want to start out or who have already begun to exercise their life through music. You will learn how to read and write major and minor chords and scales with their key signatures, how to clap out, read and write basic rhythms and to read, sing, and take down simple melodies. This is what you’ve always wanted. “When the pupil is ready the teacher will appear.” Well, he’s here now. Go for it.