Clinics & Workshops
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clinics & workshops
DAVID WHITE preparing an orchestration of Because of Who You Are for an upcoming concert
Trombonist David White. New York, NY 2010. Photo by Arthur Cohen
launching fall 2018
DWJO YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM
PROGRAM SUMMARY
The DWJO Young Artists Program will select four student musicians (3 instrumentalists and 1 composer/arranger) for a period of intensive 13-week period of musical study with the David White Jazz Orchestra (DWJO).
The DWJO Young Artists Scholarship is an opportunity for two selected student musicians (one instrumentalist and one composer/arranger) to embark upon a 13-week period of intensive musical study culminating with participation in a live performance with the David White Jazz Orchestra (DWJO).
PROGRAM DETAILS
WHAT IS THE DWJO YOUNG ARTISTS PROGRAM?
This will be the inaugural year of the DWJO Young Artists Scholarship. DWJO Music Director, David White, founded the scholarship and Mr. White and his staff will manage it personally.
Social Impact
The David White Jazz Orchestra is an arts organization that is equally committed to both artistic excellence and promoting societal change through the arts. We view music as something that is precious, sacred and powerful. We believe that music has the ability to impact lives in subtle yet meaningful ways and we aim to use our music to heal and to inspire. To further this end, we’ve embarked upon a number of community outreach and educational initiatives of which the DWJO Young Artists Scholarship is the latest.
The recipients of the DWJO Young Artists Scholarship will be selected based on both artistic merit and financial need. Our program is being offered to students who are gifted but have been denied access to opportunity due to their financial circumstances. Our goal is to reach these young artists during their formative years and set them on a path of lifelong learning, development and sustained growth. In doing so, we are planting seeds for a future arts community that is more vibrant and more impactful.
The Jazz Orchestra as Incubator
The jazz orchestra (or big band as it’s been known in previous eras) holds a special place within the culture of jazz and within the musical community at-large. Jazz education has only very recently found acceptance within academia. As such, conservatory training was unavailable to aspiring jazz musicians until the current generation. Prior to that, the big band served the purpose of educating and incubating young musicians. Here, many lessons, musical and otherwise, were imparted into the younger generation by the more experienced members of the ensemble who served as mentors. This was how the vast majority of the jazzers of yesteryear learned their craft and were initiated into the music’s fabric.
The DWJO Young Artists Scholarship seeks to honor this tradition from the music’s history. Students will be immersed in a challenging but supportive musical environment. They will be given an excellent opportunity for growth, which was once commonplace but today, has become all too rare.
WHAT WILL STUDENTS RECEIVE?
Recipients of the DWJO Young Artists Program Scholarship will receive the following:
Weekly 1-on-1 private lessons/coaching sessions on their instrument or composition technique for the duration of the scholarship period
All related study materials (such as method books, music notation software and exemplar recordings) will be provided for the students
Students will be invited to observe and participate in all rehearsals of the DWJO that take place during the scholarship period.
Students will participate (as an orchestra member or as a guest composer) in DWJO performances during the scholarship period.
HOW WILL STUDENTS BE CHOSEN?
Eligibility
Applications will be accepted from persons between the ages of 14 and 19 who reside in the greater NYC area. Applicants who are under the age of 18 must have the expressed written permission of a parent or guardian in order to apply.
All applicants must complete the online application.
Instrumentalist applications will be accepted from trombonists only in this cycle. Other instruments will be accepted in upcoming cycles.
Audition requirements
Instrumentalists
Instrumentalist applicants must submit an unlisted YouTube video of themselves performing the following with or without accompaniment:
Medium tempo blues in Bb or F; play the melody, improvise for 4 choruses and then play the melody out
Medium or up-tempo 32-bar jazz standard; play the melody and then improvise for one chorus
Ballad; play the melody of a jazz ballad in its entirety
Composer/Arrangers
Composer/arranger applicants must submit the following:
Work Sample.
Applicants must submit a work sample of one complete score or fully harmonized leadsheet of an original composition, in pdf format.
Work Sample Statement.
Applicants must also submit a statement, which places the work sample in context and describes the techniques used in the creation of the work sample.
Audio Sample (Optional).
Applicants may submit an audio recording of their composition. Recording or production quality will not be a consideration in the evaluation of the audio sample.
