I assigned my jazz combo to each write an original jazz piece. I told them it could be as simple as a 12-bar blues. Last semester they did music in only 3 real forms, 12-bar blues, rhythm changes, and ii-V-I. I got to see a little bit of a piece by one student today and they showed much promise. So I have decided to make one of the May concert dates a forum for original student compositions. I think I will open it up to the entire school to see if there are some talented composers. Hopefully I will get some solo piano works, maybe a choral piece, perform all the piece that the jazz combo has done, and even thinking about having some electronic pieces featured from the electronic music class.
I am really excited about this. Do you have any suggestions?
Great Idea man! That's something that was missing at my high school.
ReplyDeleteMaybe you should secure some funds to have a visiting composer :-)