Colonia High School’s Jazz Band was recently part of an interactive workshop where students were taught by local Jazz musicians over the course of a month, and later exhibited what they learned at a subsequent concert.
Jazz House Kids, a non-profit organization sponsored by Kensington Apartments, hosted a workshop where students were trained directly by local Jazz Musicians. The Jazz Band participated for its third consecutive year, and, for the first time, were instructed by Bruce Williams – a local saxophonist from Washington D.C. Among the many other musicians who participated was Lee Hogans, a New York trumpet player who instructed Colonia High for the past two years.
Throughout the month of January, students participated in three weekly workshops with the guest musicians. During that time, the regular band musicians kept busy by overseeing the lessons, as well as coordinating the concluding concert. With their ability to convey lessons about the the skillsets of performing, the guest musicians proved to be highly beneficial. To teach such lessons, the musicians gave students tips on how to play more effectively rather than what content to play or how to read the sheet music.
“The workshop went really well,” expressed Jessica Morely, a member of the CHS Jazz Band, “It was really interesting working with the professionals and gaining their insight.”
The revolutionary aspect of the workshop, in comparison to regular band lessons, was its individuality teaching style. Contrary to the broad and comfortable methods of average teaching, each of the teachers in the workshop conducted hands-on lessons, giving students unique training based on the specific instruments that they played. This provided students with an opportunity to develop their skills in addition to the knowledge they had already learned.
On January 31st, after three weekly workshops, the CHS Jazz Band performed with two other schools at Woodbridge Middle School (WMS). Each band presented two songs that were taught to them by the guest musicians, and were accompanied by segments from 8th grade performers and the professional musicians themselves. Following the conclusion of the concert, a reception was held in the school cafeteria where refreshments were provided. WMS was noted as being exceptionally cooperative and very accommodating to the bands that performed.
“The workshop went really well,” expressed Jessica Morely, a member of the CHS Jazz Band, “It was really interesting working with the professionals and gaining their insight.”
A questionnaire was given to all students following the concert, and the results demonstrated an overwhelming success. Sixty percent of students reported having higher confidence in their musical ability and thirty six percent of students were impressed with the helpfulness and teaching talent of their assigned instructor. This shows how the Jazz House Kids Workshop was a successful music program for students.
When questioned about whether or not Jazz House Kids would be returning to CHS for a fourth year, Jazz Band Director Kevin Perdoni explained that, “The 3-year contract between Kensington Apartments (a local sponsor) and Jazz House Kids expired this year, so it’s uncertain whether or not they’ll be returning next year.”
Regardless, many Jazz Band students expressed great satisfaction with the workshop and would be thrilled to have it return again next year.
