IfCM Collective - Chris Ziemba

1) Who do you listen to/emulate on your primary instrument?

I have a very long list of people that I enjoy listening to and whose approaches resonate with the way I’m trying to play.  I can’t say I try to emulate any one person, but I’m trying to figure out some elements that I like from each player and toss them into the melting pot to create my own sound.  Some artists who have generously (and unknowingly) contributed to my melting pot are: Brad Mehldau, Taylor Eigsti, Jason Moran, Danilo Perez, Fred Hersch, Thelonious Monk, Wynton Kelly, Herbie Hancock, Keith Jarrett, Ahmad Jamal, Jaki Byard, and Hank Jones.  Just to name a few, because there are way more.

2) What are some of your ‘essential albums’?

1. Hank Mobley: Soul Station.  Blue Note, Catalog #7465281.  Recorded on February 7, 1960.  Personnel: Hank Mobley (tenor saxophone), Wynton Kelly (piano), Paul Chambers (bass), and Art Blakey (drums).

2. Bill Evans: Portrait In Jazz.  Riverside Records, Catalog #1162.  Recorded on December 29, 1959.  Personnel: Bill Evans (piano), Scott LaFaro (bass), Paul Motian (drums).

3. Joe Henderson: Inner Urge.  Blue Note, Catalog #92422.  Recorded on November 30, 1964.  Personnel: Joe Henderson (tenor saxophone), McCoy Tyner (piano), Bob Cranshaw (bass), Elvin Jones (drums).

4. Kenny Wheeler: Gnu High.  ECM, Catalog #8255912.  Recorded in June 1975.  Personnel: Kenny Wheeler (flugelhorn), Keith Jarrett (piano), Dave Holland (bass), Jack DeJohnette (drums).

5. Wayne Shorter: Footprints Live!.  Verve, Catalog #5896792.  Recorded July 14-July 24, 2001.  Personnel: Wayne Shorter (soprano and tenor saxophone), Danilo Perez (piano), John Patitucci (bass), Brian Blade (drums).
This is a wide spectrum, but is a good starter list.
3) Favorite bands?

Brad Mehldau Trio, Ahmad Jamal Trio, Wayne Shorter Quartet, San Francisco Jazz Collective, Miles Davis 60’s Quintet (especially the Plugg Nickel recordings), also Miles’ band at the Black Hawk (with Wynton Kelly, Hank Mobley), Bjork, Radiohead, Sufjan Stevens, soooo many more…
4) Who are some contemporary groups (or groups who are new to you) that you’re currently enjoying?

Becca Stevens Band, Gretchen Parlato, The Bird and The Bee, Genevieve Artadi/Louis Cole, Miguel  Zenon, Billy Hart Quartet, Craig Taborn, Dave Binney (Graylen Epicenter, whoa!).  Older artists that I’m just now getting around to checking out are: Abdullah Ibrahim (also known as Dollar Brand), Elis Regina, Denny Zeitlin, Herbie Nichols, Andrew Hill, Paul Bley, Ran Blake…
5) How do you learn new music?

If I’m learning a new standard or previously-recorded tune, I try to find as many recorded versions I can to listen to.  For standards, if there are lyrics, I try to listen to vocal versions first to get an idea of what the song means and to check out the most humanistic way of expressing the melody.  If there aren’t words (and you really have to be sure that there aren’t, because so many of the standards have them), I try to find the original recording, and it’s absolutely the best if the composer recorded it because who better to learn how to play the tune from than its writer?!  Then there’s a certain amount of experimentation on my own that I do, “playing” at the tune, if you will.  I’ll get to the point where I’ve listened to the tune enough that I can sing the melody on my own away from any instrument.  Then, at the piano, I’ll play the harmonies and try to sing the melody.  I’ll play the bass notes by themselves just to hear the way they move, and then I’ll sing the bass notes under the melody.  From there I start experimenting with actually playing the tune as if it were a performance.  This out of necessity starts off pretty simple, but after a good amount of time I’ll hopefully be able to find a bunch of different ways to navigate presenting the melody, but this is before I’ve even begun to improvise.  It’s really important to know that melody cold no matter what before you attempt to improvise, because the best improvisations are going to involve the melody (at least on standards).

If it’s contemporary music, or music composed by my peers, I find that I have to ask the composer as much as possible, get inside his/her head because there won’t be an audio template upon which to base your learning of the song!  Even in these situations, though, I’m relying on all the music I’ve already heard that may contain similar musical elements so I’m not completely in the dark on what to do!  Here too, really knowing the melody and the framework of the piece is key to learning it in the most complete sense.6) How do you write/create music?

I don’t have a set method for this.  Much of my writing occurs at the piano, but I find it’s difficult for me to go in with the agenda of creation.  I find for me it’s kind of like letting the proverbial muse strike.  I can noodle around at the piano, trying to find an idea, for hours without coming up with anything I like…or it can be 5 minutes and a tune just starts to make its way out.  It’s really unpredictable (and sometimes frustrating).  Usually when something does appear, it’s either a melodic fragment that I like (which I then develop and figure out harmonies beneath), or a small harmonic progression which I’ll try to complete and add a melody to.  If I’m having a relatively long period of unproductivity, I will try to create something away from the piano so I’m not just relying on all of my unconscious tendencies.  For fun, I have a method of creating a tune which is as close to the jazz version of aleatoric (or “chance”) music that I can get, in which I try not to make any pre-determined musical decisions…and then when I take that to the piano the challenge is to really try to make music out of it because I will have generated some things that have no relation to one another!  Most of these pieces I never perform because they don’t amount to much, but each one ends up providing me with some interesting choices that I can use in serious pieces later on.

7) What YouTube or audio clip best represents your playing right now (we'll just embed a link in the profile)?

8) What do you like to do when you’re not playing music?

I really enjoy reading, reading in random places, taking walks (a lot of my practicing gets done on walks), playing video games (Xbox360 ftw), playing tennis when it’s seasonable, playing darts.  I find it’s really important to have a number of hobbies outside of music to keep my life in perspective.  For me, the other things are a way to keep stress levels at check and create a lifestyle that is a good balance of disciplined and unfettered; I can be very spontaneous at times and also focus intensely on one thing for a long time…the way I create music is reflective of both of these processes!
9) Any additional words of wisdom?

Always, always be listening to music!  Even if from the very first notes you react negatively to it, try to listen to the whole song, piece, etc.  Everything deserves one whole hearing, if not another.  Listen to styles you’ve never heard before, don’t just listen to jazz.  Everything will inform who you are as a player and as a person…you’ll be surprised at what kinds of things you’ll find that you really like, but you won’t know until you find them and listen to them!  Also, listen with friends who are also passionate about music because that forces a different kind of listening than the passive in-the-car or walking-around-with-headphones type of listening that we’re prone to.  When you’re with friends you’ll automatically start talking about what each of you found as hip in that last recording, you’ll rewind it back to hear it again, you’ll be listening much more intensely.

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If you haven't already, check out earlier profiles on Matthew Golombisky,  Nick Finzer and Mike Kaupa. Chris Teal will soon get his act together and fill out his own survey...  Also investigate the new IfCM Collective page with more in-depth bios and glamour shots.

IfCM Collective - Matthew Golombisky

For installment number three in the "Meet the Band" series, we corresponded with bassist, composer, multi-instrumentalist, and sonic-manipulator Matthew Golombisky.  Matthew is currently living in Oakland, CA and we're very excited to get back together and enjoy his contagious enthusiasm and amazing musicianship.  Read more about Matthew at his website, www.matthewgolombisky.com

1) Who do you listen to/emulate on your primary instrument?  

Charlie Haden, especially his work with Ornette, Liberation Orch., and the Montreal Tapes.  Larry Grenadier.  

2) What are some of your ‘essential albums’?  

My Funny Valentine 1964 Concert Miles Davis, Miles Smiles, Alone Together Jim Hall Ron Carter, The Shape of Jazz to Come Ornette, Out To Lunch Eric Dolphy

3) Favorite bands? 

e.s.t., Opeth, The Bad Plus, Bjork, Radiohead,

4) Who are some contemporary groups (or groups who are new to you) that you’re currently enjoying?  
- Phoenix, Passion Pit, Cut Copy, Miike Snow

5) How do you learn new music?  

First I learn the melody!  I sing it, play it, and then find harmony beneath it.  From there I learn the harmony that the composer wrote.  After that, it's repetition.  And remember you can learn/rehearse a tune with or without your instrument: analyzing changes, singing the melody and guide tones, can be done anywhere!

6) How do you write/create music?  

I found myself freely improvising, composing on the spot, during most practice sessions.  I'd spend 10 minutes practicing a new scale or chord progression and then get distracted.  From there, I'd freely improvise for the next several hours.      

7) What YouTube or audio clip best represents your playing right now? 


We Have Signal: Nomo from We Have Signal on Vimeo.



8) What do you like to do when you’re not playing music?  

Cook!  and EAT!

9) Any additional words of wisdom?  

It's all life!  Everything ties into everything.  So be good, eat well, and open your ears/eyes; the ride's more fun that way.
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If you haven't already, check out earlier profiles on Nick Finzer and Mike Kaupa.  Coming up in the the next couple of weeks, profiles with Chris Ziemba and Chris Teal

IfCM Collective - Nick Finzer

For installment number 2 in the "Meet the Band" series, we quizzed trombonist, composer, and IfCM co-Director Nick Finzer!  The Flathead Project will mark Nick's second time in Montana and 3rd trip to the inland Northwest.  Since graduating from Juilliard's jazz program in the spring of this past year, Nick has been wrapping up his debut album, "Exposition".  Read more about Nick at his website, www.nickfinzermusic.com

1) Who do you listen to/emulate on your primary instrument?

Some of my favorite trombonists are: JJ Johnson, Curtis Fuller, Slide Hampton, Steve Davis, and Steve Turre. Although, I like to take influence from a lot of non-trombonists like Chick Corea, Joe Lovano, Michael Brecker, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Miguel Zenon.


2) What are some of your ‘essential albums’?

JJ Johnson - "In Person"
Dexter Gordon - "A Day in Copenhagen"
Chick Corea - "Now He Sings, Now He Sobs"
John Coltrane - "A Love Supreme"
Herbie Hancock - "Speak Like A Child"
Miguel Zenon - "Alma Aldentro" + "Esta Plena"
Michael Brecker - "Pilgrimage"


3) Favorite bands?

Maria Schneider Orchestra, Chick Corea's Origins, Michael Brecker's Quindectet, Oscar Peterson Trio.


4) Who are some contemporary groups (or groups who are new to you) that you’re currently enjoying?

Miguel Zenon, Joshua Redman, Dafnis Prieto, Luis Perdomo, Mason Brothers Band (Brad and Elliot Mason), Booker Little (just started checking him out!)


5) How do you learn new music?

Learning new music has always been both exciting and challenging, and my process has pretty much taken a 180 since I started playing music! I used to try to memorize and learn tunes by memorizing off of the page, but at this point I've transitioned to a more aural approach. By listening and learning from the recordings, not only can you learn the tune, but you can develop your ears at the same time!


6) How do you write/create music?

As far as my writing process goes, it has changed a lot over the past couple of years. A few years back my process usually consisted of finding a musical moment that I really enjoyed, and trying to recreate it (sometimes by stealing something directly from the original!).

Then, it shifted to a more chordal or bass line/vamp, and try to build a tune around that. However, I found that I always had a hard time finding a good melody that fit over those vamps. Often I would compose this way at the piano away from the horn.

Which has led me to my current approach, focusing on the melody first, and then finding the right accompaniment. Now composing on a combination of my horn and singing the melody. So for me, it has been a constantly evolving process, I'm sure it will change again...


7) What YouTube or audio clip best represents your playing right now?



8) What do you like to do when you’re not playing music?

Writing music, organizing projects, reading business/marketing books, web design, The Office and the Buffalo Bills (don't judge!).

9) Any additional words of wisdom?
       
Practice Slow!

--

Check in next week for a profile on bassist and composer Matthew Golombisky

IfCM Collective - Mike Kaupa

As we get geared up to travel to Montana in November, the IfCM will post a Q&A with each member of the traveling band.  We hope these will be informative and entertaining. Feel free to ask more questions in the comments section.  

Up first, trumpeter, flugelhorner, and master jokester Mike Kaupa: 

1) Who do you listen to/emulate on your primary instrument?

MK: Miles, Kenny Wheeler, Joe Lovano (approaching tpt like it is a tenor sax...Freddie Hubbard did that, too)

2) What are some of your ‘essential albums’?

MK: Miles Davis..."My Funny Valentine",  Kenny Wheeler "Gnu High",  Miles Davis  "Milestones"

3) Favorite bands?

Joe Lovano groups...Pat Metheny Ryan Kisor groups

4) Who are some contemporary groups (or groups who are new to you) that you’re currently enjoying?

Brad Mehdau,  Ben Monder/Theo Blackman

5) How do you learn new music?

Listen, read (if necessary), eventually memorize/internalize

6) How do you write/create music?

one method...borrow form from one piece (ex. I want to write something shaped like "Maiden Voyage) , groove from another (maybe something the kids would like, like reggae or funk) , create very simple melodic motive (two/three notes) that lasts throughout much of the piece, depending on who I'm writing for, the chord progression can be very simple and fairly unoriginal (a blues, or similar to a jazz standard) or very original and challenging

7) What YouTube or audio clip best represents your playing right now?

"I hear a Rhapsody" with Ben Monder, Steve Wilson, Montez Coleman, Bruce Barth, and Ed Howard. recorded in Spain, 2005

8) What do you like to do when you’re not playing music?

golf

9) Any additional words of wisdom?

In life, stick with the straight shooters.
---

Learn more about Mike at www.mikekaupa.com

We're going to Montana!

8/21/12 – For Immediate Release:

Columbia Falls High School awarded Plum Creek Foundation “Great Classrooms” grant to fund Institute for Creative Music workshops

The Institute for Creative Music is proud to announce an upcoming series of workshops in Northwest Montana. A band of 5 teaching artists from New York will travel to Whitefish, Kalispell, Columbia Falls, and Eureka for a week of workshops and performance with area high schools. In collaboration with Karen Ulmer, Columbia Falls High School’s band director, the IfCM was awarded a grant from the Plum Creek Foundation that will sponsor full-day classroom workshops for 4 schools in improvisation, audio recording, and song-learning techniques. The IfCM band is made up of young professionals who work actively in New York and around the globe including Nick Finzer (trombone), Mike Kaupa (trumpet), Chris Ziemba (piano), Matthew Golombisky (bass), and Chris Teal (drums). In addition to working in the classroom with students, the group will present concerts showcasing their original material for the community. Schools receiving workshop sponsorship include Whitefish High School, Flathead High School, Lincoln County High School, and Columbia Falls High School. All area schools will have the opportunity to participate in an additional day of in-depth recording and performance activities on November 10th.

For more information on the Institute for Creative Music, visit www.ifcmusic.org

The Plum Creek Foundation Montana Great Classroom Awards program is designed to provide public, K-12 teachers with additional resources to enhance the learning environment in their classrooms and help enrich the educational experiences of students across western Montana.

Plum Creek is the largest and most geographically diverse private landowner in the nation with approximately 6.6 million acres of timberlands in major timber producing regions of the United States and wood products manufacturing facilities in the Northwest. In Montana, Plum Creek practices sustainable forestry on all of its 899,000 acres throughout the western part of the state. For more information on Plum Creek in Montana, visit www.plumcreek.com/montana

Come Join the Band!

The University of Rochester presents a summer full of pre-college courses every year; offering a wide variety of subjects to give students a "taste of college." Many participants are from Rochester-area schools and some also travel internationally to take part, staying in the U of R's residence halls for the weeks that they are there.

In my second year instructing "Come Join the Band: Creative Music Making for Everyone", I was joined by multi-instrumentalist, singer/songwriter, and educator Alan Murphy for two weeks of work, play, and creative performance.  We had the fortune of working with 8 fantastic young adults (ages 14-17) with a variety of vocal and instrumental experiences.  All had some experience with instrumental or vocal music in school and brought great openness and enthusiasm in working together.

The goals of the class were to learn songs of the students choosing, utilize new instruments to facilitate performing the songs, and perform and record throughout the two weeks in a variety of settings.  Week one divided each 3-hour class into segments for Creativity (free-writing and team-building), Musical Skills (demonstration of different instruments and vocal arranging, incorporating free-play and informal sharing of songs), and Projects (presenting songs to the group, rehearsing these songs on new instruments with guidance from Alan and I).  The first week culminated with a trip to GFI Music, a premier professional recording studio in Rochester, where the students recorded a version of the song "Valerie" (originally written by the Zutons, we modeled an Amy Winehouse/Mark Ronson collaboration).  Here's some video shot at the studio by the students:

A great time had by all!  We hope to get back and do more next year.  We'll follow up with week two on "Come Join the Band" in our next installment... Stay tuned for more inspired music making...

CT

Welcome our IfCM summer intern, Alistair Duncain! First-Time Take on Blank Tape Series

Alistair Duncan

This blog introduces the IfCM’s summer intern, Alistair Duncan.  Alistair is an incoming senior at the Eastman School of Music, majoring in Jazz Studies with an emphasis in trombone performance.  We’re excited to have him on-board!

***

When I was looking at possible internships for this summer, I attended an internship fair hosted by the Arts Leadership Program, part of Eastman's Institute for Music Leadership. It was there where I met with Chris and he first described the Blank Tape Series to me.

To me, my first experience at a BTS event epitomized what attracted me to the IfCM in the first place-- the meeting of improvised music and the community. While I was there ostensibly for my internship duties, I got to be an audience member/musical participant.

To begin the show, Mike Kaupa (on trumpet, flugelhorn, and miniature keyboard) and Chris (manipulating pre-recorded electronics) premiered a new piece by local composer Jeff Grinberg. It was a fitting beginning: a piece of fascinating timbral combinations and explorations in soundscapes. The variety of colors and emotions that Mike got from his two horns-- using mutes, making loops, playing with just the leadpipe, etc-- and the way he interacted with the swells and pulses of the electronics meant that I was totally immersed in the music from start to finish.

Mike enjoying a tasty beverage

Next, Matthew Golombisky's Tomorrow Music Orchestra took the stage. As the centerpiece of the Blank Tape Series, this performance really captured what made this event special. Rather than an element of "audience participation" that might be a simple, albeit humorous gimmick, the Tomorrow Music Orchestra uses the audience as an integral part of the performance. Each person receives a score that has clear graphic notation for the different groups. In the second piece, written specifically by Matthew for the BTS this year, there are 3 groups, consisting of higher instruments, lower instruments, and speaking parts. Matthew led everyone through the score, simultaneously giving instructions while also leaving room for the musical input of all involved. Improvisation of different kinds played an important role in the final product; while some sections had fully written parts that were conducted, other sections had pitch collections that were left to the discretion of the musicians. The second piece had a trumpet cadenza, entirely improvised. The overall effect was a piece in which every person both shaped and listened to the piece. While I am accustomed to both performing and listening on a very regular basis, this experience of total audience/performer integration was new to me.

Quintopus - Photo by Juge Fumagalli

The show closed with a short set from Quintopus, a band I've heard on a few other occasions. This music, again largely improvised, blends a huge variety of influences in a clever and artful manner. While I have really enjoyed hearing Quintopus in the past, I found this listening experience different, because dual role of audience member/performer that I had just played meant that I was really carefully tuned into the performance. I found that I focused and interacted with the music in a way that I normally only achieve when I perform. Simply put, the intervening experience of the Tomorrow Music Orchestra had intensified my listening and made the following music that much more enjoyable and relatable. As a performer of improvised music, I sometimes wonder what the average audience member thinks or feels about the improvisation -- how much is planned, how much is totally improvised, what the framework is, etc. Is it confusing? Does improvisation draw in the listener in general, or can it alienate them? I think involving the audience community in the way that the Tomorrow Music Orchestra did at this BTS event brings the audience into a bit of the performer's perspective in a way that benefits everyone.

IfCM March Tour Workshop Recap!

Since putting on the tour of workshops and concerts in the Rochester, NY area this March, we've had the opportunity to reflect on and review the sessions.  We'll focus this post on the workshops with area high school jazz ensembles.  The three schools we visited had differently unique instrumentation and repertoire-types that they were working on with very talented and respectful students.  We organized the workshops in two parts: first to clinic one or more of the pieces the groups had been preparing for a concert or festival, followed by teaching a jazz tune by ear. We'd like to thank directors Mike Kaupa, Brian King, and Erik Piazza for bringing us in!

March 5th, 2012

The Harley School
Brighton, NY

On the Monday of the tour, we visited Mr. Mike Kaupa's high school jazz band at the Harley School. Mr. Kaupa started the session off with "The Harley Shuffle", an original that the 8 students (2 trumpets, 2 saxes, piano, bass, drums, guitar) had been working on for a couple of rehearsals. All of the though Thelonious Monk’s composition “Misterioso”. Mr. Kaupa regularly teaches tunes and solo vocabulary by ear, so the group very receptive to learning Misterioso without any sheet music as a guide. By the end of the brief 40-minute session all were able to play both parts of the melody, and even take a solo on the tune! The students at Harley were great to work with and learned very quickly! We really enjoyed our time there and hope to bring future programming from IfCM to the Harley School.

Greece Athena High School
Greece, NY

For the second stop of the day, Chris and Nick drove 20 minutes West to Greece, NY where Mr.Brian King was gracious enough to have them work with his jazz ensemble. Nick directed the ensemble of more than 25 students through “Mira Mira”; a syncopated Latin original from Maynard Ferguson’s repertoire. The band was open and receptive to new ideas presented by Chris and Nick to really embrace the spirit of the music and bring the notes on the page to life. We did this by accentuating the shape of the lines in both the shout chorus and a unison horn soli comparing it to a person’s speaking style - not all the words in a sentence are emphasized equally. After a few run throughs with these new ideas mind, the students’ performance of these sections went to a whole new level!

During our time at Greece Athena we were able to touch on the essence of musicmaking. That is, to move beyond just the notes and rhythms and bring life to the music by putting emotion, energy, and excitement into their daily performance. A big thank you to the Greece Athena students and Mr. Brian King for being so open and receptive to what we had to offer!

March 6th, 2012
Webster Schroeder High School
Webster, NY

On Tuesday, we made our way out to Webster Schroeder high school to work with the jazz students of Mr. Erik Piazza. The session started off by reading through an original by another Eastman School of Music alumnus, Russell Scarbrough, called “Upswing”. The band’s drummer was unable to be in attendance, which presented the band with the situation of still having to keep the time, and create musical intensity without the aid of the drummer! This gave us the opportunity to talk about everyone’s individual responsibilities while playing in a big band. Even if the drummer isn’t there to keep time, all the members of the ensemble need to keep their own time, and bring intensity and energy to the music.

Second, we taught by ear, Thelonious Monk’s “Misterioso”, by vocalizing the separate parts of the tune in groups, and combining the individual parts together to create the whole line of the tune. The Webster students were definitely quick learners! A few times singing through each section and the band had it down! We really enjoyed our (although short) time with the students!

Director Erik Piazza shared this feedback:

“The Institute for Creative Music presents an innovative workshop designed to provide educators with the tools to initiate improvisation activities in their programs.  Nick and Chris foster creativity in a nurturing environment while removing fear from the process of improvisation."

Thanks to the students and educators who made everything possible!  We look forward to working with you again.

Nick Finzer and Chris Teal
Artistic Directors, IfCM

www.ifcmusic.org

IfCM Community Workshops

Community Workshops:  

Blank Tape Series

Boulder Coffee Co.

Rochester, NY

March 18th, 2012

John Calvin Presbyterian Church

Henrietta, NY

March 4^th, 2012

We have a good amount of information about the Blank Tape Series up at the new website, www.blanktapeseries.com, so we'll focus this post on our Choral workshop from the March tour.

Through working in a lot of different instrumental and vocal settings in Rochester, I’ve (Chris) had the opportunity to connect with many truly gifted and inspiring directors and ensembles.  In the last year I’ve been fortunate to work regularly with Vera Forster and her choir at John Calvin Presbyterian Church; a wonderful group of people who always bring great spirit and focus to their performances.   I’ve had the chance to sub for Vera in directing the choir several times, as well as drumming for special “jazz services” along with regular organist (and fellow Eastmanite) Jeff McLeod, so when Vera invited an IfCM collaboration during the recent March tour, it was an easy yes.  Along with Jeff on organ and piano, we brought bassist Kyle Vock to round out the instrumental ensemble.

The choir normally rehearses from 8:45-9:45AM on Sunday mornings before their 10AM service, a quick and focused preparation of 3 pieces (for the Introit, Anthem, and Benediction).  Additional hymns (usually 3) are also led by the organist and choir for congregational singing but not rehearsed.  Given the limited same-day rehearsal and performance time Vera often refers to rehearsal as ‘triage’.  For the IfCM’s workshop/performance we chose to incorporate some of the regular rehearsal in learning the introit from written music, and the anthem and benediction by wrote.  All 3 pieces were performed at the service without sheet music, a departure from their individual and group’s learning norm.  

Following the service, we had the opportunity to discuss the experience with the choir.  Here are some observations:

On learning and performing by wrote with no sheet music:

"With no one to look to, you had to come up with (the material) on your own. You had to pay attention, listen carefully, concentrate a little more"

" (there was) structure, but less structure.  If you made a mistake you kind of knew where to go"

" Comfortable to learn"

"Relaxing"

"It was beneficial to learn all three parts (melody, bass line, inner harmony)"

On having a band accompany and take solos:

"Nice to have insight in how another group (the instrumental band) treated the material."  

"If was great having a kick-butt band"

"Nice to look in on how other musicians function"

The IfCM looks forward to expanding our choral programs and relationships with similar community organizations.  We’d love to come collaborate with your choir or community group, contact us at ifcmusicorg@gmail.com to discuss!

Chris Teal and Nick Finzer

Artistic Directors, Institute for Creative Music