The Ottawa Jazz Festival will kick off with a fresh, younger set of performers this summer.
In partnership with Carleton University, the festival started a youth band appropriately titled “Jazz-Ed.”
The program will bring together nine of Ottawa’s most talented high school musicians to learn from accomplished local professionals.
In a statement on Feb. 22, Petr Cancura, the program manager of the Ottawa Jazz Festival and the driving force behind the Jazz-Ed initiative, named it “one of the most forward-looking programs in the city.”
Every week for 16 weeks, the youth band will be instructed by renowned guitar teacher Roddy Ellias.
Entrance into the program was highly competitive, according to the Ottawa Jazz Festival website.
It also said students across Ottawa applied and were selectively picked by a panel of professional musicians.
Armed with the best and the brightest young musicians in the city, Ellias said he is excited about the opportunity to keep the jazz art form alive and growing in a world that needs it more than ever.
“I want the students to take as much direction of the music as possible so I’ve encouraged them to come up with their own arrangements, ideas, and even compositions,” Ellias said.
“This is an amazing opportunity for them to explore music with good guidance and a lot of creative freedom.”
The weekly two-and-a-half hour lectures will feature guest instructors such as Juno-winner and Carleton music professor Jesse Stewart, acclaimed saxophonist and Carleton instructor Rob Frayne, bassist John Geggie, and Carleton’s Jazz Camp co-founder, Mike Tremblay.
Stewart, a percussionist, said that his lecture will revolve around the concept of improvisation. “I’m just happy to be participating. It’s important to work with younger musicians,” he said.
The small ensemble will rehearse at Carleton University’s Studio A for the 16-week rehearsal period, culminating in a final performance at the 2013 TD Ottawa Jazz Festival this June and the practices are open to the public.
Students are also encouraged to attend the Carleton Jazz Ensemble concert on April 4 at 7:30 p.m. in the Kailash Mital Theatre in the Southam Hall for a preview of the Jazz-Ed youth band
