Hamilton’s first Jazz Workshop brings 74 area students to College Hill

Sylvia Roberts plays alto saxophone and drums for Sauquoit Valley High School. Asked what she got out of a day of jazz clinics on College Hill, the senior was honest about it. “I’m not the best, but I’m definitely better!” she said.

Roberts was one of about 74 high school students and music teachers from six area school districts who spent Oct. 23 at Hamilton College for its first Jazz Workshop, a day of improvisation clinics, big band sessions and performances, the college reported this month.

The event was put together by Gabe Condon, an assistant professor of music and a guitarist, who wanted Hamilton to be more of a resource for the region’s student musicians. “One of my goals with the Jazz Workshop was to foster a community of music students and educators in the Central New York region,” he said.

Borrowed from Washington State

Condon taught classical and jazz guitar at Washington State University before coming to Clinton, and WSU’s long-running jazz festival gave him the model. He spent about a year planning. Over the summer he asked local band directors what they’d want out of a day like this, and Performing Arts Administrator Michelle Reiser-Memmer helped turn the feedback into a schedule.

The day ran on several tracks. Five guest clinicians came from four colleges and one high school in New York. Each visiting school band played for the others, and so did Hamilton’s own Jazz Ensemble. While the high schoolers toured campus, Hamilton and Colgate University students held a college jam session. The day ended with a concert by the clinicians in Wellin Hall that was open to the public.

Bassist SeungYoung Hong, who teaches at SUNY Potsdam’s Crane School of Music, said the exchange went both ways. “We inspire each other,” he said. “Even the professors, we get inspired by the students.”

What the teachers saw

For band directors in small and mid-sized districts, a day like this fills a gap. Most high school jazz bands rehearse a few times a week around sports, other ensembles and testing, and there is rarely time for one-on-one work on improvising, the part of jazz that’s hardest to teach from a podium.

Henryk Lotycsewski, who runs the jazz program at Sauquoit Valley, said the format gave his students more than a normal rehearsal could. They worked on improvisation, got direct feedback from clinicians and played alongside other bands. “It’s great exposure to learn from other students as well,” he said.

Roberts worked on drums with clinician Greg Evans and came away with new ways to vary her playing and a few experimental techniques. She writes her own music and wants to go into music production. “I’ve never done anything like this, so it was super eye-opening,” she said.

Condon gave credit to the area’s music teachers for the level he heard, and to New York’s tradition of school music programs more broadly.

College and community

Hamilton’s Community Outreach and Opportunity Project, known on campus as COOP, recruited student volunteers, helped reach the schools and paid for the meal. First-year students Cecelia Huang and Faith Putnam were among those who guided visitors around campus and helped at lunch and dinner. COOP already brings local young people to campus for STEM programs, and director of community outreach Amy James said she was glad to add music. “I hope to see it continue as an annual event,” she said.

That seems likely. Condon framed the goal modestly: most of the students won’t become professional musicians, he said, but he hopes music stays part of their lives. For a first-year event that drew six districts and closed with a public concert in Wellin Hall, it is a solid start, and it gives Clinton-area students one more reason to walk up the hill.