Colburn Jazz Workshop students perform in a combo on the Zipper Hall stage. Former students will come back to Colburn for a celebratory concert this Sunday.
“Like any other concert, I have to be careful with the instrumentation and numbers, but I just get it organized and leave the rest up to them. It’s very gratifying.” Lee Secard, Director of the Colburn Jazz Workshop
“Like any other concert, I have to be careful with the instrumentation and numbers, but I just get it organized and leave the rest up to them. It’s very gratifying.”
Colburn Jazz Workshop musicians build tight bonds of musicianship through collaborating in small combos, big bands, and often working on their own tunes. To cap off the year, some of Colburn Jazz’s most dedicated alumni will return to play alongside advanced juniors and seniors in the celebratory Homecoming Concert on Sunday, June 4 in Zipper Hall.
Chair of the Colburn Jazz Workshop Lee Secard came up with the idea several years ago. “I did it the first time and thought ‘oh, we have got to do this every year,’” he said. “It’s such great fun.”
For many of the current students, this will be the last concert they perform while enrolled at Colburn. Jazz students at Colburn have a long list of accomplishments over the past few years, earning Music Center Spotlight Awards, DownBeat magazine awards, recognitions from the National YoungArts Foundation, performances at the Monterey Next Generation Jazz Festival, and more. Many of them will be heading off to study music in prestigious college programs.
Lee says alumni are often eager to come back to campus for the event. “I’ve been delighted with the response,” he said. “We have a lot of students graduate each year, and they are generally quite happy to come back.”
After assembling the group and calling up former students, Lee is able to give the advanced ensemble more freedom in rehearsing and directing their own concert. “Like any other concert, I have to be careful with the instrumentation and numbers, but I just get it organized and leave the rest up to them. It’s very gratifying.”
The Colburn Jazz Workshop will close out the year at 3 pm on Sunday, and the performance is free and open to the public. Visit this link to learn more.
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