2015 festival

Greetings 2015 Jazz Workshop Participants,

This is important information. Please read all of it!

I hope you are all looking forward to the South Delta Jazz Workshop as much as we are! We have a great week of music, learning, and fun planned for everyone.

The workshop begins Tuesday, July 7 at 9:30 am. We will meet at Delta Community Music School, 4705 Arthur Drive, in Ladner.  There is a parking lot is across the street next to the lawn bowling green.

• Please do not be late as we will have a lot to do on the first day!
• Bring payment for any outstanding enrolment fees
• If you have a drum set or other bulky gear to unload, please come a little earlier at 9:00am
• Parents of younger students, please plan to stick around for the first 10 minutes or so.

As usual we have a wide range of students from beginner players through to very advanced semi-pro players. Students will be divided into ensembles to work with on the first day. Placements may change as we get to know your abilities, needs, and personalities. Please be patient with us as we try to create a situation that will be best for you. Our full-time faculty members will rotate among the groups on a daily basis. We expect a high level of courtesy and respect among all participants in the Workshop.

Please bring everything you will need for making music: 

• extra reeds, valve oil, patch cables, picks, strings, staff paper, pencils and eraser.
• Drummers, bass players, and guitarists are requested to bring their own amplifiers and drum kits where possible. This equipment can be left at the workshop for the duration. The Music School is locked and has an alarm.
• If you don’t have an amplifier or drum kit please contact us immediately so we can try to arrange to get one for you.
• We will have music stands available – no need to bring your own stand.
• Make sure all of your gear is labelled clearly so it doesn’t get lost.
• All students should bring a lunch, a snack or two and a water bottle.There is very limited time for students to purchase a lunch from the mall as lunch time is also concert time with our guest artists and faculty and all students are required to attend the these concerts. Food is important for an event of this kind. We strongly suggest that you bring something healthy that will provide you with the energy you will need for a very full day of music making. PLEASE NOTE – we have some students with severe nut allergies this year. In consideration of their health and well being, we ask that you please do not bring foods which contain nuts. 

 

Typical Daily Schedule of Events:

9:30 – 10:15 Aural Skills classes

10:15 -10:30 Break and move to rehearsal rooms

10:30 – 11:30 Ensemble Rehearsals

11:30 – 12:00 Lunch and noon concert set-up time

12:00 – 1:15 Noon Concert (you can keep eating while you listen!)

1:15 – 2:15  Master Classes

2:15 – 2:30 Break

2:30 – 4:30 Ensemble rehearsal (with a short break somewhere in the middle)

 

Other IMPORTANT Events

• Wednesday, July 8 Advanced Student Concert at Diefenbaker Park 6:30-9:00pm Some of our advanced students will be performing at Diefenbaker Park in Tsawwassen. Bring some food and a lawn chair and enjoy a summer evening with great music.  Attendance is not required, but encouraged.
• Thursday, July 9 from 7-9pm Jam Session at Petra’s Arts Kafein Tsawwassen. This is open to workshop participants and to anyone in the community who plays jazz. This is a really fun part of the workshop and always a highlight for students and families. If you don’t know what a jam session is or how it works, DON”T WORRY the workshop will prepare you for it!
• Friday, July 10 Faculty Concert7:30pm. All Saints Anglican Church. Tickets $10 Jazz workshop students receive free admission to this event and are expected to attend as part of the learning process. The evening concert is an important and a required part of the program for workshop participants. We could use some help selling tickets to this concerts
• Saturday, July 11 Final Student Concert 12:00- 3:00pm at the School Grounds.Parents, spouses, family and friends are all welcome to this concert or any of the noon hour shows. Admission to noon shows and final student concert is FREE. Rehearsals on Saturday will run until 11:30 and then we will be setting up outside for our final performance In the small park area between the school building and the youth centre. Picnic supplies, blankets and lawn chairs will come in handy.

 

Photographs

We’ll be taking photographs of workshop activities throughout the week. The photos will help us promote the workshop in coming years and help us get funding from sponsors and government organizations. If you do not want pictures of yourself or your child used in this way, please let us know. If you take some photos yourself, we’d love to have digital copies for our website or facebook page

Please contact Brad Muirhead if you have any questions by replying to this email.

We look forward to working with all of you!

Best regards,
Brad Muirhead and Stephen Robb

Directors, South Delta Jazz Workshop

We would like to welcome Dr. Kofi Gbolonyo as our in residence Guest Artist for the 2015 Summer Workshop and Festival!

Dr. Kofi Gbolonyo is a Ghanaian-Ewe Ethnomusicologist and Music Educator; an adjunct professor of Music and African Studies at UBC and the founding director of the UBC African Music and Dance Ensemble. Kofi is also the founder and director of Nunya Music Academy in Ghana. He is a seasoned clinician and an advocate of multicultural music education. His areas of expertise include West African music and dance, Orff-Schulwerk, and multicultural music education and African Studies. He performs, conducts workshops, and gives scholarly presentations in West Africa, North America, East Asia, Europe, and South America.

 

Here is a clip of what he has been doing with some of the students at Capilano University this term.

 

 

At this time we welcome Jennifer Scott as one our Guest Artists for the 2015 Workshop and Festival.

Jennifer Scott is a Vancouver-born vocalist and jazz pianist specializing in jazz, blues and world music. Jennifer is considered one of the most important jazz artists working in Canada and the United States today. From sold-out concerts in San Francisco to exclusive local club performances, Jennifer’s performance experiences have been varied. Jennifer has appeared at Jazz Festivals all across Canada and in several of the United States. She has also appeared with such jazz luminaries as: Tommy Banks, Don Thompson, Kenny Wheeler, Skywalk, and Hugh Fraser, to name a few.

Jennifer Scott has appeared on Jazzbeat, Westcoast Performance, and CBC’s Hot Air several times, and was selected to be featured on four separate CDs produced by the CBC. She has also appeared on several TV shows as a featured performer.

Interactive, Jennifer Scott’s self-produced CD, was critically received and has sold more than 1500 copies independently. Jennifer had two subsequent releases: Something to Live By, featuring Jennifer on Vocals, Bob Murphy on Piano, and Rene Worst on bass; and Live at Monk’s featuring Jennifer’s vocals and her debut as a recorded jazz pianist. Rene Worst is, again, featured on bass; and multi-reedist Tom Keenlyside is also featured.

Jennifer is pianist/vocalist for San Francisco-based Novo Tempo, a Brazilian/jazz Fusion group featuring the music of Ed Johnson. She has recorded 2 CDs and toured extensively with this group, including dates at Dizzy’s in San Diego and Catalina’sin Los Angeles. She was featured with jazz legend Clark Terry, performing with him at the Centre for Performing Arts in Vancouver.