|
 The
program, “Jazz Playformance,” was created by Dr. Denise La Grassa,
Lead Faculty for Jazz Studies, at Lincoln College. She will lead the
program and two Lincoln College students, Christian Lloyd and Sean
Sheldon, will serve as student teachers for the classes.
Classes will be held the week of June 11-15, for 45 minutes each day
and be divided by age, with first through third graders taught from
10-10:45 a.m.; fourth through sixth grade classes will be from
11-11:45 a.m., and seventh through ninth graders will attend from
Noon to 12:45 p.m.
The classes will be at Audra’s Studio of Dance, 214 McLean
St., in Lincoln. There is an $80 fee for the full week. For
registration or other information, contact: Dr. Denise La Grassa at
dlagrassa@
lincolncollege.edu or by calling 312-399-5933.
La Grassa’s “Jazz Playformance” classes invite students to play and
create in a world of musical games wrapped in rhythm, melody,
word-play and story. Musical themes and songs come to life through a
series of interactive games designed to tap into each student’s
creative thoughts and ideas. These ideas are crafted into songs and
sketches through improvisation games.
Jazz Playformance games involve a series of themes from classical
and jazz music, classic and modern poetry and plays. Master
composers and authors including Shakespeare, Mozart, Ellington and
Gwendolyn Brooks serve as a base for students to riff with melodies
and word phrases to create individual songs. Advanced level students
will merge songs into stories, creating theme-based musicals. These
shows will be filmed, recorded and printed to DVD for the students
to take home.
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Christian Lloyd
Sean Sheldon
Student
teachers Christian Lloyd and Sean Sheldon will bring their own jazz
studies approaches and experience to the workshops. Both are
majoring in Contemporary Jazz Studies at Lincoln College. Lloyd
plays Trombone and Sheldon is a saxophonist. Both recently composed,
recorded and performed original compositions as part of their
studies.
The summer program is also something of a preview of a planned
after-school program that will debut in the fall.
Lincoln College was recently awarded a $1,200 grant from the
Illinois Prairie Community Foundation to offer reduced tuition for
an after-school version of Jazz Playformance. It was one of 73
programs in McLean, DeWitt, Livingston and Logan counties receiving
2018 spring grants from the Foundation.
Funds from the Illinois Prairie Community Foundation will be used to
provide needed equipment and financial support in order to offer the
course to 32 students.
[Mark Gordon
Public Relations and Media Manager
Lincoln College] |
