Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the School for Improvisational Music Present SIMs Mini Intensive Improvisational Workshop

The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music and the School for Improvisational Music invite musicians of all ages to an intensive two-day improvisation workshop. In the first-ever partnership between these two Brooklyn-based music institutions, participants will experience SIMs unique brand of collaborative and multidisciplinary teaching, with ample playing opportunities and discussion of improvisational concepts. The weekend will feature instruction by three noted improvisers: trumpeter Ralph Alessi, saxophonist Tim Berne and pianist Matt Mitchell. Amateurs and professionals alike are encouraged to apply by August 1st at schoolforimprov.org.

The School for Improvisational Music is the instructional facet of the Center for Improvisational Music, a non-profit corporation whose mission is to promote the teaching and advancement of Improvised and Creative Music. Since 2001, SIM has held twenty intensive workshop sessions for 800 students from all over the globe, taught by a cross-section of the most creative improvisers from the jazz and contemporary music fields. Every SIM workshop promotes the schools core philosophy: inspiration breeds creativity, creativity breeds experience and experience breeds learning.

The Brooklyn Conservatory of Music has been serving the New York musical community for over a century. One of the oldest and largest community music schools in the nation, the Conservatory promotes individual and community growth through music and is committed to making music accessible to people of all ages, backgrounds, and skill levels. The Conservatory offers private instruction, group classes, ensembles, and choral opportunities to students ranging in age from 18 months to adult. Nestled in a completely restored five-story Victorian Gothic mansion in the heart of historic Park Slope, Brooklyn, the Conservatory serves as a comprehensive music center for over 4,000 students of all ages, skill levels, and backgrounds.

Ralph Alessi studied under Charlie Haden at the California Institute of the Arts before setting out for New York, where he swiftly became a ubiquitous presence on the downtown music scene and a leading figure in jazz education. A founder and director of SIM, Alessi has also recorded seven albums as a bandleader and composer. Jazz Times called his writing as clean and airy and sophisticated and disciplined as post-modern progressive jazz gets and named the group's debut outing one of the ten best recordings of 2002, while All About Jazz dubbed its 2007 follow-up Look an outstanding work of intellect and fire. His longest apprenticeship as a sideman was in various ensembles led by alto saxophonist and M-Base founder Steve Coleman, but Alessi has also been a frequent collaborator with Don Byron, Ravi Coltrane, Uri Caine, Fred Hersch, James Carney, Jason Moran, Drew Gress, Scott Colley, Dafnis Prieto and Brad Shepik most of whom have also played and recorded in Alessis own groups.

Tim Berne began his music career via a self-described sort-of apprenticeship with composer and saxophonist Julius Hemphill. Over the past three decades, he has performed with Ed Schuller, Olu Dara, Paul Motian, John Carter, Glenn Ferris and Bill Frisell. In addition to recording on his own record labels, Berne has also released albums through such acclaimed labels as JMT and Columbia Records. He has toured worldwide with his bands Paraphrase and Bloodcount, receiving unanimous praise for a three-volume recording of the latters historic Paris concerts. Closer to home, Bernes string quartet dry ink, silence was premiered by the Kronos Quartet at the Brooklyn Academy of Music

Matthew Mitchell studied at Indiana University and the Eastman School of Music with instructors including David Baker, Luke Gillespie, Michael Cain, and Elizabeth DiFelice. Since then, he has pursued an interest in the intersections of both composed and improvised music and of 'classical,' 'jazz,' and electronic music, performing consistently throughout the United States and Europe. In addition to his solo activities he has been a member of the long standing Philadelphia-area groups Kaktus and Feigner, both of which groups have explored new areas of non-idiomatic group improvisation and released several acclaimed albums on Scrapple Records. His most recent recording, the large-scale electroacoustic piece 'vapor squint, antique chromatic,' was released on Scrapple in 2007 to uniformly positive reviews. In addition to being a current member of Tim Berne's Adobe Probe, he has performed with a number of musicians including Ralph Alessi, Ravi Coltrane, Brad Shepik, Shane Endsley, Drew Gress, Mark Helias, Tom Rainey, Jim Black, Ari Hoenig, Josh Roseman, and John Swana, as well as being a former member of the avant-rock band Thinking Plague.