Konowitz Improv Camp

High School Students and Teachers Learn Music Improvisation at Summer Camp

NEW YORK July 15, 2005 - For the second year in a row, high school musicians from New York City and nearby suburban schools will be jamming together at a five-day Improvisation Camp offered through the Teachers College Center for Educational Outreach & Innovation. From July 25 through July 29, from 10:30 to 1:30, high school musicians and music teachers will take their creative abilities up a notch under the direction of Bert Konowitz, Adjunct Professor of Music at Teachers College and leader of the Teachers College improv ensemble SPIRIT.

“This is all about teaching kids how to think on their feet and become spontaneous as performers," says Konowitz. “Most kids who come to the camp don't know how to improvise - sometimes their school music programs are not as full as one would hope for - so this is a way of expanding instruction when it's been narrow in their home setting."

Some participants will receive needs-based scholarships to attend the camp from the American Society of Composers, Arrangers and Publishers Foundation (ASCAP), the Chase Your Dream Scholarship Fund--Rita and Herbert Z. Gold, the Leonard Bernstein Family Foundation and the Teachers College President's Diversity and Community Committee.

Using a specially prepared packet of music skill-building exercises and materials, students will work in individual and small-group instruction and practice sessions. The outstanding camp faculty will offer workshops that focus on how to create and improv a piece of music, working with a variety of scales, chord patterns and rhythms.

“We have all instruments represented, including vocalists, and we're going to offer kids specific skills that will improve their overall performance. Konowitz said. “For example, string players are learning how to play their instrument not only as classical musicians, but also as jazz musicians. That means learning how to use your bow differently, learning different fingerings."

At another workshop, guest artist Deveor Rainey from CPE 2 Percussion will demonstrate how to add Afro-Fusion, Latin and Hip-Hop rhythms to improvisation.

After each workshop, students will be given a variety of improvisational challenges. “It winds up that the kids actually write a lot of their own pieceswe want the kids to have the excitement of being a song writer. From that they produce an original CD which every kid gets to take home," Konowitz explained.

Each day features a special bonus activity after camp ends. On Tuesday, The Sound Tree division of Korg USA, a company that produces and services electronic instruments for instructional settings, will do a workshop with kids on how to make their own CD. On another day, students will work in the Teachers College video studio to learn about visual presentation for performing on stage and screen. “We feel very strongly that what we want to do is enable kids to chase the dream that they have, particularly in the technological world that we live in now - kids are dreaming the American Idol dream, if you will," Konowitz said. “So what we're saying is, in five days we're going to give you a chance to become that great celebrity within yourself."

Camp will conclude on Friday, July 29, with a public concert at noon in the Teachers College Milbank Chapel. The public is invited to attend.

Music educators may also attend the camp and during the prior week they can take classes with Konowitz on how to teach improvisation. Following the camp, from August 2 - 4, all are invited to attend and perform in workshops and concerts on Cape Cod.

During the school year, Konowitz is Artist-in-Residence in the Syosset, New York, school district where he works with teachers and students on improvisational skills.

For more information on the camp and the Cape Cod performance from August 2 - 4, contact Konowitz at [email protected] or [email protected].

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