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

IfCM Reading Session 3.3.12

The inaugural Institute for Creative Music Big Band Reading Session was held on Saturday March 3rd, 2012 at the Eastman Community Music School to great success!

Schools from all across Rochester, and students from all levels were represented. In attendance from the Eastman School of Music DMA program we had Nikola Tomic, Eastman alumni Mike Frederick and Erik Jacobs, and current masters and undergraduates from Eastman, Berklee, Roberts Wesleyan University, and Monroe Community College. Students from Pittsford, Penfield, Fairport, School of the Arts, and the Eastman Community Music School rounded out the ensemble.

The session brought together a unique cross section of local players (playing together for the first time) to rehearse and record two original compositions arranged for big band by Nick Finzer. The first was an uptempo swing tune entitled Lit by Lightning, featuring some tough chromatic chord changes drawing from the "modern" jazz vernacular. Great solos were heard from Alistair Duncan, Nikola Tomic, Matthew Sieber-Ford, and Will Zimmer!

After a discussion about section playing, sight reading, and techniques for interpreting a chart the first read-down, Nick led the band through a second original, Forget Yesterday. This piece was conceptually different than Lit By Lightning, with an open 3/4 feel that featured symphonic and orchestral textures.  After the first read-through, Chris and Nick suggested using different timbres to match the character of the piece, and garner great feedback from the lead section players about the importance of  creating points of tension and release in phrasing to maintain the forward momentum of the piece.  involved! On Forget Yesterday, we heard great solo moments from both Mike Frederick and Panni Spears, with great rhythm section support from Mike Conrad, Matt Krol, and Ike Shultz.

Thank you to all of the musicians who stopped by to make the reading session a success!

Trumpets: Nikola Tomic, Oliver Haynes, Nick Grau, Evan Lane,
Trombones: Alistair Duncan, Will Zimmer, Bradley Schumacher, and Erik Jacobs
Reeds: Matthew Sieber-Ford, Panni Spears, Daniel Brown, Megan O’Donnell, Jessica Moss
Rhythm: Mike Conrad (piano), Mike Frederick (guitar), Matt Krol (bass), Ike Shultz (drums)

A special thank you to Lauren McLaughlin, for donating her time and talents to photograph not only the reading session, but also the showcase concert and our workshop at the Harley School!

Overall, the event was a success and positive feedback was coming in all weekend about the reading session! A parent of one of the high school participants said:

“While most teens are obsessed with Saturday nights as date nights, my Diva was totally "Jazzed" to be invited to a Big Band Reading Session. Most of the high schoolers passed, but those who are going will be joined by college and pro musicians and they will learn so much toward their goals as future musicians. Let's hear it for dedication over social status! Who needs a date with someone who won't matter in the long term when you can have a date with your future?”

The Institute for Creative Music is planning more similar style sessions in the future, and would love to see all of this March’s participants back for the next one in addition to plenty of new faces!


Nick Finzer and Chris Teal
Artistic Directors, Institute for Creative Music
http://www.ifcmusic.org 

Welcome!

Welcome to the new Institute for Creative Music Blog! Here you will find news about upcoming events, tours, and collaborations as well as recaps from our Artistic Directors about recent our events. In the meantime, we are redesigning the look of our main site - www.ifcmusic.org . Check back soon to see the latest!