Jazz Performing Workshop, Wed. 7:00-9:00 PM | Instructor: Jon Ballantyne

The purpose of this course is for the student to develop his or her skills in the art of jazz improvisation and ensemble playing. The student will learn the melodies and chord changes to several selected pieces from the standard jazz repertoire and will play improvised solos as part of an ensemble. The instructor will provide the students with practical feedback and coach the ensemble when appropriate. Rhythm section players will work with the instructor toward improving their skills as accompanists as well as soloists.

Theoretical and historical elements will be introduced and utilized during rehearsals. However, emphasis will be on the performing of standard jazz pieces, the discussing and employing of useful approaches to improvising within the jazz idiom, and the gaining of an understanding of the subtleties of group interaction within a jazz ensemble. All instruments are welcome.

Studies in Music Analysis and Composition I, Wed. 7:00-8:30 PM | Instructor: Hilarie Clark Moore

This course investigates the basic principles of voice leading, harmony, and composition.  Students will write and analyze two and three-voice counterpoint to understand voice-leading concepts.  Basic tonal harmony will be written and analyzed.  Sight singing, Ear-training, rhythmic exercises, and keyboard skills will be taught to reinforce theoretical concepts and to train the music performer’s aural skills.  Students must have proficiency in reading music.

Note: This class requires a Placement Test. PDF

Form and Analysis I, Wed. 8:30 – 9:30 PM | Instructor: Hilarie Clark Moore

This course traces the evolution of musical form from the Baroque period to the Romantic Period.  Understand the basic building bocks of music composition and how they are combined to form masterworks.  This course is for the audience member that wants to enhance his or her appreciation for music performances, for the music performer to enhance their musical interpretations, for composers to understand what has been done before, and for the theorist to improve his or her analytical skills.  Basic analytical techniques will be taught.

Note: This class requires a Placement Test. PDF

Conducting, Thu. 7:00-8:15 PM  | Instructor: David Dworkin

An informal course that will allow one to learn the basic patterns of conducting, the subtleties of arm and body movements. Learn to read scores. Actually conduct from a score as you listen to music from Baroque to twenty first century works.

Having conducted on two continents and having been on the “other” end of the baton as a clarinetist in major orchestras, Mr. Dworkin will share thoughts of some of the greatest conductors of the 20th century. He has played under Leopold Stokowski, James Levine, Zubin Mehta, Herbert Von Karajan and many others. Come share in the magic of the ART of Conducting. Student1s requirements will include a BATON and the purchase of inexpensive scores.

Orchestral Music, Thu. 8:30-9:45 PM | Instructor: David Dworkin

Mr. Dworkin, in an informal, fun way, will explore orchestral music and its development from the Baroque Period to 21st Century works. Having played under Leopold Stokowski in the American Symphony and a myriad of great conductors from Von Karajan to James Levine as a clarinetist with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, he can give personal insight into the different approaches to the symphonic repertoire through the ages.

Everything from orchestral suites to symphonic literature, to the wonders of Brahms ³Hungarian Dances² and Dvorak¹s ³Slavonic Dances², Rimsky-Korsakoff, to Bartok, Bernstein, Hindemith, Stravinsky and the many other GREATS of orchestral repertoire.

Straight No Chaser- Jazz, 1945-Present, Thursday 7:00-8:30 | Instructor: James Emery

The vast range of musical expression which constitutes the music called jazz is one of the richest traditions in western art. This course celebrates this heritage by offering an in-depth, decade-by-decade look at the innovative musicians and movements in jazz since 1945. Via guided listening sessions we will experience the abundance of styles and deeply personal artistic statements that continue to make jazz a seminal cultural touchstone. Along the way, we will encounter and develop a more insightful awareness of the music of, among others, Miles Davis, Duke Ellington, Charlie Parker, John Coltrane, Keith Jarrett, Ornette Coleman, Stan Getz, ulius Hemphill, and others.