UPDATE (11/27/07)
VICTOR L. GOINES APPOINTED DIRECTOR OF JAZZ STUDIES AT NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITYEVANSTON, Ill. --- Clarinetist, saxophonist and educator Victor L. Goines has been appointed as director of jazz studies and professor of music by Toni-Marie Montgomery, dean of the Northwestern University School of Music. It was announced that Goines will join Northwestern’s music faculty in spring 2008.
Goines has an extensive background as a jazz educator and as a performer. For the past seven years he served as artistic director of the Jazz Studies Program at the Juilliard School in New York. He also actively tours with the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and has collaborated with many of the leading artists in jazz and popular music.
“Our two-year search has resulted in the identification of the ideal candidate -- an internationally recognized artist-pedagogue,” said Dean Montgomery. “I am confident that Victor Goines will transform the Northwestern jazz program, making it a center for the performance and study of jazz, and a source of pride for the School of Music, the University, and the Evanston and Chicago area communities.”
Goines said, “Northwestern University is the ideal place for jazz study. The University’s dedication to research, performance excellence and outstanding teaching are exactly the elements that produce superb jazz players. I am thrilled to be joining the School of Music faculty.”
Goines has been a member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and the Wynton Marsalis Septet since 1993. With these legendary ensembles he has toured worldwide and has performed on more than 20 recordings, including Marsalis’ Pulitzer Prize-winning “Blood on the Fields” (Columbia Records), Jazz at Lincoln Center’s “CongoSquare” (JALC) and the soundtracks for three Ken Burns’ documentaries, including “JAZZ,” “Unforgivable Blackness: The Rise and Fall of Jack Johnson” and “The War: A Ken Burns Film.”
Goines also is a renowned solo artist. He leads his own quartet and quintet, having made seven recordings with them, including “New Adventures” and “Love Dance,” both on Criss Cross Records. Among the many noted jazz and popular artists with whom he has collaborated are Terence Blanchard, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ruth Brown, Ray Charles, Bo Diddley, Bob Dylan, Dizzy Gillespie, Freddie Green, Lionel Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, B.B. King, Lenny Kravitz, Branford Marsalis, Ellis Marsalis, James Moody, Dianne Reeves, Marcus Roberts, Diana Ross and Stevie Wonder.
Goines can be heard performing on the soundtracks for the films “Undercover Blues,” “When Night Falls On Manhattan” and “Rosewood,” as well as on music videos featuring artists Chick Corea, Garth Fagin, Bobby McFerrin, Wynton Marsalis, Marcus Roberts and Linda Ronstadt.
A gifted composer as well, Goines has more than 50 original works to his credit. The Juilliard School’s Dance Division commissioned him to compose a jazz score in celebration of its 50th anniversary. The composition “Base Line” was premiered in 2002 to support the original choreography by Juilliard alumnus Robert Battle. Additional commissions have come from Jazz at Lincoln Center.
Throughout his career, Goines has been deeply committed to the field of jazz education. In 2000 he was appointed the first artistic director of the Jazz Program at the Juilliard School and a faculty member in jazz clarinet and saxophone. During his seven-year tenure, the department expanded from a collaborative program with Jazz at Lincoln Center to include formal bachelor and master degree programs. He also has served on the faculties of Florida A & M University in Tallahassee, University of New Orleans, Loyola University in New Orleans and Xavier University of Louisiana in New Orleans.
A native of New Orleans, Goines began clarinet studies at age 8. He received a bachelor of music education degree from Loyola University in New Orleans in 1984, and a master of music degree from Virginia Commonwealth University in Richmond in 1990. He is a Conn-Selmar, Inc. and Vandoren Artist.
NORTHWESTERN NEWS: www.northwestern.edu/newscenter/
Previous announcement: (from 5/29/07) While nothing has been officially announced by the administration, our efforts are making a positive impact! The plan is to host auditions for prospective jazz freshmen next year with a REVISED set of audition criteria, and we are still looking for a director of jazz studies. Without all of your letters, none of this would have been possible. Thanks to everybody who has contributed, and keep the letters of support coming in!
Previous announcement: (from 5/15/07) Northwestern University is discontinuing its jazz studies major. Hear what the students have to say, read the news and letters of support and outrage from the music community and the news, and get the facts straight below to discover how you can help save our beloved program.
STATEMENT FROM NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY JAZZ STUDENTS
“I believe strongly that Northwestern's institutional responsibilities include creating an environment that welcomes students, faculty and staff of all races, nationalities and religions. In doing so, we offer our students the opportunity to learn in a diverse community, thereby preparing them better for their careers.”- Northwestern University President Henry Bienen, 2001 State of the University speech.
As indicated by President Bienen’s statement, cultural diversity and representation have long been goals at Northwestern University, as evidenced by various multi-cultural student organizations and ethnically oriented programs of study. One of the ways that leading music schools have reflected cultural diversity is by embracing jazz as an integral part of higher music education. However, the Northwestern University School of Music has failed to demonstrate legitimate support for its Jazz Studies degree program. This will also affect Northwestern’s reputation as a world-class institution because jazz has been an integral part of our country's modern history.
Despite paltry administrative support, NU's undergraduate jazz studies program offers more opportunities than ever before. Similar to other leading jazz studies programs, Northwestern currently enjoys world-class faculty members in every instrument area, weekly master classes with some of the finest jazz performers in the country, and a growing curriculum including jazz theory, history and repertoire. These benefits are complemented by unique performance opportunities throughout the Chicago area at venues such as the Jazz Showcase, Pete Miller’s and the Art Institute of Chicago; similarly impressive are regular recording opportunities at the best studios in Chicago. Consequentially, NU continually attracts large numbers of applicants to the Northwestern Jazz program.
However, these positive attributes resulted from persistent student provocation and faculty support rather than from administrative vision. A comprehensive curricular overhaul that School of Music Dean Toni-Marie Montgomery promised three years ago has been delayed by two years of an unsuccessful search for a jazz studies director. At the moment, the program has but one full time professor in a non tenure-track position; the rest of faculty is part-time adjunct. Thus they have little power to combat the inequities of an admissions process that severely inhibits program maintenance and growth.
As it stands, the admissions process imposes a double standard onto all jazz applicants in which they must outperform many of the nation's best young classical musicians, despite the fact that their studies will encompass a completely different musical genre. Jazz consultants hired by the Music School suggested that changes to the admissions process constitute a top priority for strengthening the jazz program; however, Dean Montgomery refuses to adequately address this deficiency. As a result, there are only two rising jazz underclassmen and no incoming jazz freshmen. Next year, the program will be without jazz majors on bass, drum set, trumpet, or piano.
National interest in jazz education remains high, particularly at the high school level; yet, the School of Music fails to offer its full support for the study of jazz. As jazz proponents such as Wynton Marsalis, Jamey Aebersold, Dave Brubeck and NU graduate Orbert Davis continue to successfully campaign for the recognition of jazz as a legitimate art form worthy of institutional study, the collapse of Northwestern’s jazz studies program represents a step backwards for the entire jazz community. It remains the music administration's responsibility to correct the admissions problem and show tangible evidence of their alleged support of jazz at NU by cultivating a faculty of full-time jazz professors as well as appointing a director to lead the program. We urge the administration to learn from the failure of their two-year search and initiate the much-needed reforms that will allow jazz at NU to prosper, thus promoting cultural diversity within the School of Music.
If you want to voice your opinion and express support for Northwestern’s jazz studies program, please email Mike Lebrun at michaeljlebrun@gmail.com.
FRIENDS OF NU JAZZ
New: Read first had accounts from NU director of jazz studies interviewees Marvin Stamm and Steve Wiest , Northwestern's former head of jazz studies, Dow Owens, and Dean Montgomery's hired jazz consultant Ron McCurdy.Please choose a letter to read from the following friends of NU Jazz:
Jamey Aebersold Notable Jazz Educator
Tim AuBuchon Director of Jazz Studies, Truman State University
Ben Bokor NU Music Alum and Clarinetist, U.S. Army Field Band, Washington, D.C.
Daniel Brame Director of Bands, Deerfield High School
Kevin Carroll Chicago Band Director
Todd Coolman Director of Jazz Studies, SUNY/Purchase
Dan Cray Chicago Jazz Pianist and BM, BA Northwestern class of 1999
Art Davis Chicago Jazz Trumpeter and professor, NIU
Greg Fishman Chicago saxophonist and teacher
David Fodor Evanston Township HS Director of Bands and Jazz Studies, NU Alum
Tom Fowler Director of Jazz Studies, Wichita State University
Charles Geizhals Prof. of Jazz History, Marymount Manhattan College
Ted Gioia Author of The History of Jazz
Jeff Gutierrez Jazz Saxophonist and NU Jazz Studies Graduate
Brad Goode Professor of Jazz Studies, University of Colorado
Jeff Hedberg Chicago Jazz Artist and NU Graduate
John P. Heinz Professor of Law, Northwestern University
David Hoffman NU Alum
Tim Ishii Director of Jazz Studies UT Arlington
Jeremy Kahn Chicago jazz musician
Phil Kelly arranger /composer / producer / clinician in film music
Steve Lesche NU Jazz Pedagogy Alum and Guitarist, The Jazz Ambassadors
Jeff Libman NU Alum and musician
David Liebman Legendary Jazz Saxophonist
Sean McCluskey Chicago jazz pianist, NU jazz studies graduate
Ron McCurdy Chair and Professor of Jazz Studies, USC
Jim McFalls President-Elect, MD Unit IAJE, Jazz Trombonist
Chip McNeill Chairman Jazz Division, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Chuck Marohnic Director of Jazz Studies, Arizona State University
Chris Oberholtzer Director of Jazz Studies, University of Southern Maine
Matt Olson Director of Jazz Studies, Furman University
Don Owens Former Head of Jazz Studies, Northwestern University
Mary Jo Papich IAJE President Elect
Steve Ramsdell Chicago jazz guitarist and educator
Craig Roselieb Chicago high school band director and NU alumnus
Jim Rotondi Jazz Trumpeter and Professor at SUNY/Purchase
Neil Slater Director, One O’ Clock Lab Band at University of North Texas
Marvin Stamm Jazz Trumpeter
Joshua Thompson NU Jazz Alum and High School Band Director
Lazaro Vega Jazz Director, Blue Lake Public Radio
Chuck Vollherbst Associate Bandmaster, US Army Band
Doug Wamble Jazz Guitarist and NU Graduate
Scott Weinhold Saxophonist, US Army Band
Steve Wiest Jazz Composition/Arranging and Trombone,The University of North Texas
We appreciate all of your letters, and we are still accepting more!!Please email your letter of support to Mike Lebrun at michaeljlebrun@gmail.com. Thank your for doing your part to save jazz at NU.
Jamey Aebersold Notable Jazz Educator
Dear Dean Montgomery,I think you and your administration are making a big mistake in not supporting jazz at Northwestern.
Most all of the America's major universities have a jazz component. Becoming a professional classical musician has become as difficult as becoming a professional jazz musician. Music education needs to embrace the music that will allow a young musician to make a decent living and play music. We all know this has gotten harder and harder with the advent of pop music, videos and the garage band mentality.
For years jazz was looked down on by classical musicians as though jazz weren't good enough-whatever that was suppose to mean. Since I've been in music education and jazz education in particular for the past 46 years, I've noticed a leaning of jazz faculty to positions not directly related to jazz. This tells me that higher education recognizes the value of music educators who are performers in jazz who have come up through the classical tradition and end up with knowledge and performance abilities that encompass both classical and jazz. They end up with the best of both world's. And their students reap the benefits!
There's nothing to be afraid of from jazz education. Jazz education has awakened creativity and imagination in the musicians soul. This was sorely missing in general music.
To not embrace jazz education and all that it has to offer young musicians is to lock yourself in a room with no windows. The world will pass you by.
I urge you and your faculty to reconsider. To read the letters from the Northwestern jazz students tells me jazz is good. The days of smokey jazz clubs, evil music, devil music is gone. It's a new day and Northwestern University should welcome the fresh air jazz provides.
Like I said earlier: There's nothing to be afraid of. Truth is always friendly.
Sincerely,
Jamey AebersoldJamey Aebersold
PO Box 1244
New Albany In 47151-1244
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Tim AuBuchon Director of Jazz Studies, Truman State University
To Whom It May Concern:I was greatly disturbed and saddened to hear of the decision to suspend the Jazz Studies degree at Northwestern. After so many eloquent statements by former NU students as well as internationally recognized jazz artists and educators, I felt at first that there was not much left to say. (Clearly this did not hold me back, based on the length of this letter!) However, I also felt the need to put something down on paper. I hope that some of my thoughts prove to be useful.
When I attended NU, there was not yet an undergraduate jazz studies degree. Although there were many great student musicians and faculty, the program simply did not have the same depth it displayed eight years later when I heard the last concert Don Owens conducted before his retirement. Soloists, rhythm sections, and section players were all outstanding; there were several excellent student compositions. Clearly the program had grown significantly through the addition of the undergraduate jazz major and of several adjunct faculty members. I was excited for the future of the jazz program. In the two years since, I have been disappointed to learn that the jazz director position has gone unfilled. The idea that NU would suspend its jazz degrees, though, is hard to accept.
I am unclear about how committed the Dean and faculty at NU are to fixing the problems with the jazz degree and hiring a director for the jazz program. I am going to proceed under the assumption that NU would support the development of a world-class jazz program, which would be relatively easy to do given the reputation of the School of Music and the location in the Chicago area. This assumption is based on this excerpt from the Dean’s statement: “The faculty and I are committed to renewed efforts to strengthening the jazz experience for all students in the School.” Such renewed efforts do not need to be monumental. I feel that there only a few issues holding up the development of the jazz program, the main one being the audition process.
The audition process has been a major sticking point throughout the history of the undergraduate jazz degree at NU. This limits the number of jazz majors, eventually leads to fewer auditioning students, and is probably a significant reason for the failure to hire a jazz director for two years. To assume the jazz directorship at an institution of NU’s caliber is to accept the responsibility of making the jazz program competitive with any jazz program in the world. This is not going to happen when the audition process eliminates many of the best qualified students.
Why is the audition process unfair? Obviously Northwestern should have the highest standards for its students. However, excellent jazz performance and excellent classical performance are quite different in at least two ways. First, certain elements of jazz – particularly tone color and pitch for wind players – are informed by a desire for an individual sound. Without these elements, a jazz player is considered to be uninteresting, unexpressive, and sterile. Wind players studying in the European classical tradition strive for a sound that will blend perfectly with other instruments. While this type of study is valuable for jazz musicians, it is counter to their primary expressive area; therefore, different criteria must be used to evaluate jazz students. This DOES NOT mean lesser criteria, just different. Second, the jazz musician is composing his musical ideas split seconds before executing them. A large portion of a student jazz musician’s time is devoted to developing compositional skill. A more equitable audition process might be to continue with the classical audition but give jazz students credit for the fact that they are also composing. Are students auditioning as composition majors held to the same standards as those auditioning as performance majors? I do not know the answer to this, but my suspicion is that the faculty would be forgiving of an excellent composer who is an adequate, but not amazing, performer. If that is the case, the same courtesy needs to be extended to auditioning jazz students.
In closing, I want to suggest that if the Dean is truly “committed to renewed efforts to strengthening the jazz experience” she should appoint a task force to find solutions to the problems with the jazz program at NU. Such a task force should study jazz programs at comparable institutions (Eastman, Juilliard, Indiana University, etc.) to improve the jazz audition process and any other aspects of the NU program that may be handicapping the search for a new director. The search needs to continue and not simply be moved to some sort of “suspension limbo”; however, the problems with the program must be addressed before any highly qualified candidate for the jazz director position will see that the administration and faculty at NU are truly supportive of the development of the jazz program.
Sincerely,
Tim AuBuchon
Director of Jazz Studies, Truman State University, Kirksville, MO
President-Elect, MO-IAJE
MM, Jazz Pedagogy, Northwestern University, 1997
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Ben Bokor NU alum and Clarinetist, U.S. Army Field Band, Washington, D.C.
I am very upset to hear of the news of Dean Montgomery's decision to do away with the jazz program at Northwestern, but I am not surprised. As a graduate of NU (BM 00'), I was involved in almost every facet of the music school. My goal was to develop my skills as an orchestral, jazz, and commercial player, and I feel like I got what I paid for at NU, which was world-class well-rounded musical training.None of this would have been possible if it weren't for the strong jazz community that existed at NU during my days there. It was not just the superb organization and instruction I received from the faculty, but also the strong musical personalities that were attracted to the university to study jazz. The masters pedagogy program always brought in a handful of extremely talented players, and with the creation of the undergraduate major while I was in school (thanks to D.O.), things seemed to be going in the right direction.
Even with these small successes, it was very foolish of me to think that things were going to okay at NU after I left. I constantly sensed a level of tension between the administration and the Jazz Studies Department. My perception, as a student, was always that there was money to improve just about any aspect of the NU School of Music, except for the jazz studies program.
The program has always been severely understaffed. The clarinet studio, which I was a part of at the time had four full time instructors and a full professor for a studio of roughly 27 students. Meanwhile, the jazz studies department had three instructors for well over 50 people playing different instruments involved in the program. The program needed a world-class trumpet or saxophone instructor while I was there, but apparently there was no money for another teacher.
I could go on with a list a mile long of evidence that supports my claim that the administration has consistently neglected the jazz program. People like Don Owens and Mike Kocour fought incredible battles to increase the visibility of the program, and it look what they now have to show for all of their labor!
It is a true embarrassment for Northwestern University, a premier music institution, to be without a jazz program, given the cultural and historical significance of the music in American society. There should be no excuses. If Northwestern is not known as a reputable place to study jazz, then lets make it one. Don Owens committed his life to this effort, and Dean Montgomery should continue his efforts in order to further the School of Music's growth.
I've heard that the search for a new jazz studies head has been unsuccessful. Here is my recommendation to the dean: look harder, find someone incredibly good, and pay them a lot of money. If this can happen, NU will attract a wealth of young talent and the jazz program will finally be on keel with the excellence exhibited in the rest of the the School of Music,
Sincerely,
Ben Bokor
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Daniel Brame Director of Bands - Deerfield High School
As a School of Music alum from the class of 1986, I can remember what it was like when NU did not have an official jazz studies program. Those of us who wanted to become better jazz musicians had only the big bands and a small, student-run combo program. There were no improvisation classes or lessons, and only one faculty member, Don Owens, who was eventually able to build a strong jazz program that I felt comfortable recommending to my own students who wanted to pursue this line of study. For NU to continue its tradition of excellence in music, it is essential that the jazz studies program be nurtured and developed to the point at which it takes it rightful place next to the already world-renowned programs in classical performance, composition, and education. To lose the jazz studies program would be to turn the clock back twenty years, and this would be a major misstep for the university.Daniel Brame
Director of Bands
Deerfield High School
1959 N Waukegan Road
Deerfield, IL 60015
(224) 632-3165
http://www.dist113.org/dhs/Depts/FineArts/band/index.html
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Kevin Carroll Chicago Band Director
I very saddened by the news about the Northwestern jazz program. I am not an alumnus of NU, but direct a full-time high school jazz program on the northwest side of Chicago. We routinely (at least twice a year) bring in local collegiate jazz bands to perform and promote their institutions.Given the circumstances, it may seem responsible to the decision makers to discontinue this program. However, I feel that this is narrow-minded and irresponsible. How did the administration let it get to this point? Many universities are ADDING undergraduate & graduate jazz programs with great success (see U of Illinois as an example). Why couldn't Northwestern? It could attract a more musically diverse population and strengthen the music school as a whole. "Classical" majors would benefit and be challenged by jazz majors - and vice-versa.
Studying jazz is a full-time commitment. Name historically significant classical AND jazz artists. How many are there? Miles Davis himself went to Julliard but said that they could not teach him what he was learning from Dizzy Gillespie and Charlie Parker. There is no incentive for any serious music student to attend an institution that dismisses any music program so easily.
It has been my experience that a program's accomplishments reflects its leadership (positively or negatively). The Northwestern music leadership should be embarassed at the failure of a program with great potential and a wonderful staff of dedicated artists committed to the advancement of jazz. The committee stated that "the jazz program is inevitably going to have to end." My response would be, "Why is it INEVITABLE?"
Sincerely,
Kevin Carroll
Band Director
Saint Patrick High School
Chicago, IL
773-282-8844 x260
kcarroll@stpatrick.org
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Todd Coolman Director of Jazz Studies, SUNY Purchase
To Whom It May Concern:The decision to discontinue the Jazz Studies Program at the Northwestern University School of Music has in effect isolated the School of Music as an anomaly within Higher Education in the United States and has separated the School of Music at Northwestern from all of its peer institutions across the country.
At the heart of the matter, it seems to me, is a concoction of an audition and admissions process that has guaranteed the demise of the program. The idea that criteria commonly used to determine a student's readiness to become an accomplished musician and performer in today's music performing arts professions is imperatively linked to a Western Art Music model is a philosophy that the Academy has overwhelmingly rejected for the past 50 years or so.
If the Administration of the School of Music is to be at all open to the needs of its students and faculty in the Jazz Area, a very different solution to the current dilemma can, and must be reached. Those who are responsible for the final decisions should heed the well-known axiom that, "No man is an island."
The current decision to abolish the Jazz Studies Program at Northwestern University flies in the face of all reason.
With the hope of a more fruitful conclusion to this regrettable debacle, I remain sincerely yours,
Todd Coolman, Ph.D
Director of Jazz Studies
Conservatory of Music at Purchase College (SUNY)
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Dan Cray Chicago Jazz Pianist and BM, BA Northwestern class of 1999
Dear Dr. Montgomery,As someone who helped to build the Jazz Studies Program at Northwestern into a degree program during the 1990’s, I am dismayed to hear of its imminent demise. My history with Northwestern dates to my high school years when I took part in the National High School Music Institute for two summers. Based on my overwhelmingly positive experience, and the support and guidance of Mike Kocour and Don Owens, I decided to pursue both music and history at NU. The other option was to forgo music altogether. My career and life are a testament to the fact that I made the right decision.
My first two years of classical piano lessons at NU were valuable to be sure, but music really came alive for me when I fashioned an Ad-hoc degree in Jazz Studies with administrative support and put all of my energy into learning this complex and emotionally visceral music. Since graduation, I’ve made a living primarily by performing rather than teaching. I’ve proudly represented Northwestern at international festivals and competitions, most notably at the American Pianists Association, an historically classical organization that proudly gives jazz an equal amount of support. Not a week goes by that someone at a gig doesn’t ask me where I went to school. Usually, my response is followed by “Northwestern—great music school, right?” What should I tell these people now, Dr. Montgomery?
The decision to cut the Jazz Studies Program reflects a provincial attitude more appropriate for the middle of the last century. There is no debate that Jazz is a viable art form, and in fact is America’s only native art form. There is also no debate that elite music schools consider this to be true! One need only look to Julliard and Eastman, both of which Northwestern begs to compare itself to. Each features an independent Jazz Studies Program, with a full curriculum at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Northwestern already faces a significant handicap compared to these schools because its main facility is a 19th century dorm with no soundproofing and terrible pianos. Why compound this misery by showcasing for the world that your spirit is equally handicapped—corrupted by a narrow, outdated, and ultimately uncreative mindset?
Why would any creative person ever come to such a place? How can I honestly recommend Northwestern to the talented kids and their parents who I come across so frequently in the course of my career?
I urge you not only to reconsider this short-sighted and self-destructive decision, but also to reflect on who the real life ambassadors for the school are. The other “failed” classical pianist in my freshman class just directed the music for Elton John’s musical Lestat on Broadway. I’m sure Northwestern was prominently mentioned in his bio.
Sincerely,
Dan Cray
BM, BA Northwestern class of 1999
www.dancray.com
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Art Davis Chicago Jazz Trumpeter and Professor of Jazz Studies, Northern Illinois University
I was fortunate to teach jazz at Northwestern for a year before obtaining my present position. Without exception I found the students there to be intellegent, inquisitive, and eager to learn about America's greatest contribution to the arts. Their playing level is extremely high, as befits the reputation of that school. I, for one, would be very disappointed to see these students deprived of the opportunity to study jazz at Northwestern University.Art Davis
Professor of Jazz Studies,
Northern Illinois University
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Greg Fishman Chicago saxophonist and teacherThis situation has existed at Northwestern for many years. It's long been known among jazz musicians in the area that Northwestern's music department was primarily classically oriented, with a few jazz courses offered for classical players looking to expand their depth of knowledge into the jazz idiom.
When I attended Northwestern to earn my Master of Jazz Pedagogy Degree, (1998-1999) the jazz program was growing thanks to the efforts of Tony Garcia, Mike Kocour and Don Owens. Since then, Tony and Mike have both moved on to other schools who embrace a full-blown jazz curriculum. Don Owens has worked very diligently for jazz at Northwestern, but in spite of these efforts, the fact remains that the administration and the non-jazz teachers simply don't want a jazz department.
If the administration would endorse a full jazz program, complete with a qualified faculty on each instrument in the area of jazz, I have no doubt that the program would be successful. Highly respected "classical" schools like Eastman and Julliard both have added excellent jazz studies degrees to their programs, and have benefited from increased enrollment as a result.
I wish you the best of luck in your efforts.
Sincerely,
Greg Fishmanwww.gregfishmanjazzstudios.com
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David Fodor Evanston Township HS Director of Bands and Jazz Studies (Ph.D., NU Class of 1998)
Dear Friends of NU Jazz,I am writing in full support of your efforts to protect the Jazz Studies Program at Northwestern University. I am a 1998 NU graduate (Ph.D. in Music Education), former Director of the NU Jazz Lab Band (1990), former Drum Line Instructor for NUMB (1988-1994), Jazz Instructor for NHSMI (1990-2005), and I have been a Band Director at Evanston Township HS since 1990. My feelings for the NU music program run deep and remain strong. I am angered by this recent turn of events; however, I am not surprised. The unnecessary loss of Mike Kocour to become Director of Jazz Studies at Arizona State, and the premature retirement of Professor Don Owens both foreshadowed the day when some narrow-minded studio teachers and visionless administrators would see fit to place the School of Music squarely back in the 1950s.
Please allow me to share a recent experience to emphasize the importance of maintaining a well-rounded music program at NU. Just this past April, my top combo from Evanston Township HS was invited to be a part of the NU Jazz Combo Festival, spearheaded by NU Jazz Studies Director Joel Spencer. My students, along with students from Champaign Central, Oak Park-River Forest, and East Aurora (read: “prospective NU music students”) were treated to a fantastic day of rehearsals and master classes presented by the jazz faculty, and performances by NU faculty and our students. Interestingly, I never saw a single administrator or studio faculty member attend any of the jazz events or speak to any our students that day.
During the festival, I was treated to an interesting day in another way–I sat in on many of the jazz classes, I attended a David Maslanka composition master class, I got to see the NU Chamber Orchestra rehearse a contemporary marimba concerto in Pick-Staiger, and I saw the NU Concert Band sightreading new music for an upcoming concert. At the time, I thought “what a rich musical environment for my students to experience.” I was thinking both about my current HS students in attendance at the festival, and about my former students now attending NU in music.
With the potential demise of the jazz studies program, that vision I saw of a rich musical environment will be diminished for every NU music student. As so many others have pointed out already, the jazz studies portion of that vision is integral to success of a well-rounded music school for many reasons. For Northwestern–a school that is known for defining the Musical Experience–a strong Jazz Studies program offers the best possible opportunity to study the art of improvisation, one of the cornerstones of musical expression. Jazz music has much to offer when considering the other areas of music study. The unique skills required for musical improvisation: the application of music theory in creating live performance; the development of advanced aural skills through live creative interaction with others; the advancement of analytical skills through listening to and transcribing seminal performances; and the improvement of chamber performance skills through combo experiences all deserve serious study by every music student.
Given the short-sighted decision to suspend Jazz Studies at NU, I cannot, in good conscience, recommend to any of my high school students that they consider attending NU in any music program, because I don’t know if the program they apply for will even be there for them in the future, and because there are better choices for them elsewhere.
Please continue the good fight, Friends of NU Jazz, because this is worth fighting for. Jazz Studies deserves a place in the Northwestern School of Music right alongside the other excellent programs. Without a Jazz Studies Program, many people will no longer consider Northwestern as a top-tier school to study music. I don’t think that the faculty who voted to suspend the program, nor the administrators who agreed to it, understand this very important point, and I hope that the outpouring of support for your cause helps them to realize just what a catastrophic error it will be for the entire school of music, if this suspension remains.
With great hope for wisdom and understanding to prevail,
Dr. David Fodor
Evanston Township HS Director of Bands and Jazz Studies
(Ph.D., NU Class of 1998)
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Tom Fowler Director of Jazz Studies, Wichita State University
How disappointing to hear about the jazz degree at Northwestern University. Those students currently enrolled in the program must feel bewildered and somewhat betrayed. Can a reduction in jazz offerings at one the country’s most prestigious institutions diminish Northwestern’s reputation? It will certainly have a ripple effect in other Schools of Music, and be viewed with interest as resources are stretched to support existing degree programs. One can only hope that Northwestern's decision is not based on a failed search for a jazz ensemble director, or the feeling among other faculty that cutting one degree program will in some way enhance existing programs. Jazz will survive at Northwestern, but it may not attract the most talented young performers, nor provide the stimulation for non-jazz majors that the current jazz majors have brought to the University's ensembles. More important may be the underlying message Northwestern is broadcasting to jazz educators and the jazz community, that relatively new jazz degree programs, without strong administrative guidance, support and nurturing, risk becoming vulnerable to faculty pressure and university politics.Tom Fowler, Director of Jazz Studies
Wichita State University
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Charles Geizhals Prof. of Jazz History, Marymount Manhattan College, 2005 - 2006 and NU AlumTo Whom It May Concern,
The decision to all but obliterate the jazz program at Northwestern University's School of Music is in keeping with the School's attitude towards the program: the administration and classical faculty have long considered Jazz at NU an endearing educational afterthought, a cute diversion from an otherwise serious and proud program steeped in the European classical tradition. That attitude has now created a music program which is closed-minded and out of touch with the realities of what makes America a unique place in the world to study music. Rather than replicate the broad areas incorporated into other programs of study at one of the premier academic institutions in this country, the powers-that-be have chosen to continue focusing on only one of the two main musical traditions in the USA, thereby perpetuating the Eurocentric thrust of collegiate instruction that the rest of the educated world has been trying to shake off since the Civil Rights Movement. For accomplishing this, those decision-makers are truly deserving of a standing ovation.
Their actions over the past 2 years hurt all students at Northwestern University, not only those in the School of Music. For years, Jazz at NU has been a program where participation is based on merit, since non-Music students such as myself have historically had access to small ensemble playing and participation in non-major lessons if they can pass muster on their instruments. The exposure that I received from the program prepared me for entry into a top-tier graduate program in jazz piano performance and allowed me to pursue my passion for music alongside a liberal arts degree. This was singularly possible due to the strength of the program and faculty members it attracted. The decision to end the jazz major and graduate program denies future Northwestern undergraduates the same opportunity I enjoyed.
When my peers and I pursued masters degrees in New York after graduating from Northwestern, our jazz professors and professional musicians on the scene told us stories of their own conservatory days in the 1960s and 1970s. Back then, students could hardly say the word "jazz" in the music classroom, much less arrange a jam session without fear of being thrown out of the rehearsal building for causing a racket. The music teachers and administrators of NU's School of Music are at the highest level of education and have a responsibility to cultivate programs of study which keep their school on the cutting edge of education and innovation. The fact that jazz education forms a necessary part of any musical curriculum is undisputed in colleges and universities around the world; Northwestern's competition has embraced jazz education and called it and its development a top priority. Those responsible for this decision, on the other hand, have dragged Northwestern students past and present backwards by 40 years, against our collective will.
Regretfully,
Charles Geizhals
BA, Classics, WCAS, 2003
MM, Jazz Piano Performance, Manhattan School of Music, 2005
Prof. of Jazz History, Marymount Manhattan College, 2005 - 2006
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Ted Gioia Author of The History of JazzI am writing to show my support for the Friends of NU jazz. Jazz is America’s most distinctive contribution to global musical culture, and should be a recognized and cherished part of any vibrant university community. Northwestern enjoys the legacy of a great jazz heritage in the midst of a premier jazz city. Alums include Patricia Barber, Rufus Reid, Fareed Haque among others, and the advocacy of the current students shows that enthusiasm for jazz is alive and well on campus. But this heritage is now at risk. I urge the university to take steps to support this tradition and these students.
Ted Gioia,
Author of The History of Jazz
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Brad Goode Professor of Jazz Studies, University of Colorado
It has long been my suspicion that Northwestern regards jazz as a lesser pursuit.I read the advertisements for Jazz Director over the last two years with great interest. After discussions with my friends who either currently teach jazz at NU or have done so in the past, I decided not to apply for the position. The latest news confirms what I had already been hearing through the academic grapevine.
It aggrevates me to hear of this attitude, which is still very much with us in the 21st century. It is unfortunate that Northwestern will not be able to attract talented people for either the faculty of student body.
Brad Goode
Professor of Jazz Studies
University of Colorado
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Jeff Gutierrez Jazz Saxohponist and NU Jazz Studies Graduate
I was shocked to hear the news about the jazz dept at NU. I received a BM in Jazz Studies there in '03 and have been making a career as a jazz musician and educator ever since in New York City for several years and more recently in Phoenix. My overwhelmingly positive experience at NU has played a huge role in how far music has taken me.As more and more jazz programs across the country are gaining momentum by splitting with the classical departments it seems backwards that NU would choose to simply cut jazz out of the curriculum. Especially with how much jazz is a part of American and Chicago culture. It is vital that education takes a broad look at the past, present, and future. Northwestern would be doing its students and community a horrible disservice by denying such a powerful and important artform.
I hope I'll be able to continue to reccomend NU's jazz program to young students.
Sincerely,
Jeff Gutierrez
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Jeff Hedberg Chicago Jazz Artist and NU Graduate
To Whom It May Concern:It is profoundly disheartening to hear that the Northwestern University School of Music is considering the elimination of the jazz studies program. Northwestern University’s music studies programs are considered, by many, to be among the best in our country. If Northwestern does indeed eliminate the Jazz Studies Program, not only is the university turning its back on alumni, current students and future students, but it is turning its back on America’s rich and vibrant musical history. Jazz is America’s “classical” music; it is an indispensable part of our culture as Americans. As one of North America’s preeminent collegiate music programs, Northwestern University and similar places of study are obligated to offer jazz studies programs based solely on the requirement to preserve, nurture, cultivate and procure American History.
“A life devoted to music can follow many different paths — performer, scholar, teacher, arts administrator, critic. Each requires talent, dedication, and commitment as well as a belief in the importance and necessity of music in today's challenging world.”
Jazz is an important necessity in today’s challenging world. Jazz requires the same talent, dedication, and commitment as any viable form of music. If Northwestern University truly believes in its published statements, the university is a place where “…distinguished faculty offer rigorous, conservatory-level training designed to prepare musicians of the very highest caliber,” how can you prepare musicians of the very highest caliber that are not both versatile and well versed?
I don’t doubt that an informed reader would agree that “… the combination of outstanding musicianship, keen intelligence, and curiosity about the world produces a unique creative voice.” As alumni, I was not made aware that I had apparently experienced some kind of extinct utopia where a musician was allowed develop a unique and creative voice in jazz. Are we to assume that the study and performance of jazz does not require outstanding musicianship, keen intelligence and curiosity? Are we to assume that one who studies jazz would not produce a unique creative voice?
I further question that if faculty members of the Northwestern University School of Music are charged with “…cultivating and nurturing that voice in each individual,” and “…peerless dedication to collaborative teaching,” are those statements being upheld? Is there an unspoken rule that the cultivating and nurturing of one’s musical voice is reserved solely for those who can produce that “unique creative voice,” as long is it not rooted in the jazz idiom? Can the Northwestern University School of Music offer its students the “flexibility to pursue varied interests,” without a jazz studies program?
The Northwestern University School of Music is keen to advertise its convenient location, “…just north of Chicago, students are ideally situated to take advantage of this great city's world-class music making and other cultural resources.” Are we to assume that world-class music and culture in Chicago does not include jazz?
A Northwestern University School of Music education should provide students with skills and values — superb musicianship, a mastery of communication, a sense of discipline, a commitment to excellence — that will prepare them for success wherever their interests may lead. Jazz, as well as any other fine art, requires this same set of skills and values. Without exposure to jazz, yet only the opportunity to study it, how marketable will future graduates be? The study of jazz — literature, technique and history- is not only applicable, but necessary in today’s music climate. I’m sure that if you ask any industry professional they would agree with that statement. Perhaps Northwestern has lost sight of its duty — prepare students for their forthcoming journey into the real world, outside of university and conservatory walls.
Does Northwestern look forward to guiding the next generation of musicians on that journey? I sincerely hope not if it does not include delving into America’s classical music, jazz.
Sincerely,
Jeff Hedberg,
Blujazz Recording Artist
Educator
Northwestern Graduate
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John P. Heinz Professor of Law, Northwestern University
I was very sorry to hear that NU is considering dropping the major in jazz studies. Without the major, recruitment will be severely limited. This decision is essentially a choice as to whether to have a first-rate program or just a “cultural supplement.”The program has made excellent progress since Joel Spencer became its director. The ensembles are now playing with real sophistication and technical proficiency. It would be a great shame to lose this.
Some people mistakenly think of jazz as popular music. Unfortunately, it is not. A particular type of jazz was once popular, but that music was not much like the music that is played today. Today’s jazz is demanding, challenging. Anyone who heard the Jim McNeely concert on Saturday night should realize that his contrapuntal compositions are complex and difficult. I doubt that members of the audience went home humming the tunes.
As Howard Reich said in Sunday’s Tribune, “Jazz remains one of the few artistic disciplines where amateurs (thankfully) dare not tread…technical mastery – or at least high proficiency – has been part of the code of playing jazz.” That is precisely why we need the jazz major. Jazz is commonly recognized as one of America’s greatest contributions to the arts, but like other arts its support is precarious and it must be nurtured.
I have been an academic long enough to know that there is always competition for funds, and I’m sure that other faculty in the school would be happy to use the money devoted to jazz, but a world-class university should be able to afford a proper program, which requires the recruitment of first-rate talent.
John P. Heinz
Owen L. Coon Professor of Law
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David Hoffman NU Alum
I am very disappointed to hear that NU is discontinuing its jazz studies program. I was a graduate assistant in 1985-86, and led the Jazz Lab Band that year. I also coached some combos. Fred Hemke, Jr. was the bari sax player in the Jazz Lab Band. Our lead alto player was Susan Fancher of the Amherst Saxophone Quartet. Ron Blake was on campus studying classical saxophone with Dr. Hemke as well. I cannot believe that a school with such a prominent saxophone studio would not want to have a stellar jazz program. The jazz performing groups were in their infancy back then, and the major didn't come along until later. Don Owens worked tirelessly to put jazz on the map, and bringing in talent such as Garcia and Kocour was a great move. I played with Mike as well as Joan Hickey and Joel Spencer at the University of Illinois, and I know that they have worked hard to keep the program moving. Don also did some great things fusing jazz and contemporary classical music, putting his own unique spin on things. One of the most challenging things I ever did as a player was as a soloist in a composition he wrote where I had to improvise on a Ligeti tone row. Don is a personal mentor, and while he will be difficult to replace, I hope that NU will not stop trying!I was a conducting major with John Paynter, but it was the jazz program that got me my first college gig. After NU, I became Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Dayton. After being there for a time, I was able to also become conductor of the Symphonic Wind Ensemble, but it was jazz that got me in the door, and I have D.O. to thank for getting me that interview. I later served as Director of Bands and Director of Jazz Studies at Oregon State University. Jazz training is essential for today's performance students, but even more so for music education majors.
Chicago is such an outstanding city, with such a rich musical tradition, encompassing both orchestral and jazz genres. What a tragedy to have one of the finest music schools in the country, located in one of America's best cultural cities turn its back on jazz performance.
David Hoffman
MM Conducting, 1986
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Tim Ishii Director of Jazz Studies UT Arlington
Dear Friends,I find it sad that jazz still struggles for acceptance in the 21st century. I can only hope that that NU, a leader in educating musicians, will resolve this terrible decision.
Tim Ishii
Director of Jazz Studies
UT Arlington
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Jeremy Kahn Chicago jazz musicianIt sickens me to learn that Northwestern has decided to discontinue its Jazz Studies program. Jazz is one this country's mightiest achievements in the world of Performing Arts, and to have NU treat it as an unworthy pursuit is incredibly shortsighted. I somehow get the feeling that if the "deciders" at NU really wanted to sustain the program, they'd figure out a way to do it. For shame!
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Phil Kelly arranger /composer / producer / clinician in film music
To Whom it may concern:I'm very sorry to hear of this decision to downgrade ( or dismantle ) the jazz major program at Northwestern.
Once again, it seems that the classical /academic faction has exercised its bias against Americas native art form i.e. jazz ..and jazz education. This has been an ongoing problem at many institutions of higher learning for years and shows both an elitist and short sighted perpective on the part of the NW faculty and administration. I do hope this decision is not final and will be reviewed.
Sincerely:
Phil Kelly
( arranger /composer / producer / clinician in film music )
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Steve Lesche NU Jazz Pedagogy Alum and Guitarist, The Jazz AmbassadorsTo Whom It May Concern:
Being one of the two final graduates of Northwestern's M.M. in Jazz Pedagogy program ('05), it greatly disheartens me to hear that the administration has decided to put an end to jazz studies at this institution. In this day and age, most people would agree that the question of whether or not to have a jazz program at a music school would be answered with an emphatic "YES!". However, the answer does not seem as obvious to others.
While my time at the school was brief, I was still witness to the beginnings of tremendous growth in the jazz studies program. Joan Hickey was brought in to replace Mike Kocour, while Tito Carillo and Andy Baker were brought in to round out the jazz brass department. The weekly jazz forum was created where we had a number of excellent and very well known clinicians, including John Wojciechowski, Dave Liebman, and Jim McNeely. For most of my time at the school, it seemed that things were going fairly well. It amazed me that even though the program was still only a fraction of the size of programs at other schools, we still had just as much, if not more, resources in the faculty and the location as any other school in the country.
The turning point for all of this was during my last quarter at Northwestern, after Don Owens had announced his retirement, when the decision was made by the administration to suspend the Jazz Pedagogy graduate program. What we all soon found out was that "suspend" really meant "cancel". It seemed that there was no trust put into the remaining faculty to continue the program. There was also not going to be a head of the jazz program for at least a year since the selection process was not started until quite some time after D.O.'s announcement. The great progress and effort that had been put into the jazz program was coming up on a slippery slope and after a while the jazz faculty and students had to start fighting the administration just to keep the program alive and on track.
One of the fundamental problems with the undergraduate jazz program is the admissions process. I had always thought it odd when I would hear of the rare jazz studies program that would require its students not only to study classical music, but to have their classical music abilities a part of the entrance audition. I believe that this way of thinking comes from people who believe that there are only two types of music: legitimate (classical) and illegitimate (jazz, blues, rock, basically everything else). What makes one better than the other? Is it because the "masters" wrote it? Which masters? Bach, Beethoven, and Brahms, of course. But wait, what about Louis Armstrong, John Coltrane, or even Stevie Wonder? Not one of these masters can be put on a higher pedestal than the other because they are all masters in their own regard. They were all able to express themselves from the innermost part of their soul. This is why they were great, not because they played in any particular style, which itself is only just a vehicle of expression. With the admissions process as it stands now, is it very improbable that myself, some of the jazz faculty, or even some of the best jazz musicians in Chicago would be "qualified" to be admitted to the undergraduate jazz studies program.
It is very unfortunate that others will not have the opportunity I had to study at one of the finest universities in the country. The jazz studies program as a whole was a great asset to the school. Northwestern University has the resources to have a thriving jazz studies program. From its world class faculty to its prime location just north of one of the biggest hot beds of jazz in the world, the school could easily have a jazz program that would be the envy of almost every other school. This can only come from true commitment from the administration, the ones that were put in charge with the trust that they would do the right thing by supporting the faculty and students, not by closing down departments that are truly worthy of keeping. I am not alone in saying that I would love to see both the undergraduate and graduate jazz programs reinstated at Northwestern. The students are passionate and committed to what they do and it is unfortunate that, instead than perfecting their art, they have to waste part of their college career fighting the administration. They deserve better.
Those in charge have an important decision to make that will have a great impact on Northwestern and I hope that they will not make it lightly. I believe that reinstating the jazz program at Northwestern would be the best decision for everyone.
Sincerely,
Steve Lesche
Guitarist, The Jazz Ambassadors
The U.S. Army Field Band, Washington, DC
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Jeff Libman NU Alum and MusicianMay 29, 2007
Dear Dean Montgomery and Northwestern School of Music Faculty,
It would seem that an institution that values jazz would not allow its program to crumble due to faculty turnover, a difficult directorship search, or the status of an incoming freshman class. These legitimate hardships would only be bumps in the road to a school of music fully committed to its jazz program.
Being a renowned school of music in one of the countries largest metropolitan areas, Northwestern University has the potential to have the best jazz department in the Midwest. It is my sincere hope that this imbroglio leads to a reevaluation of the importance of the jazz program in this institution.
Sincerely,
Jeff LibmanBME – Northwestern University, 2000
MME – Arizona State University, 2006
Adjunct Music Faculty – Phoenix College, Scottsdale Community College
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David Liebman Legendary Jazz Saxophonist and Founder/ Artistic Director of the International Association of Schools of JazzMay 18 2007
Dear Friends of Jazz at Northwestern University:
It saddens me and I am sure many in the jazz community to be informed about the ending of the jazz program at Northwestern. I remember doing a workshop there a few years with Don Owens and observing what a fine program was being offered and how important it was that it was taking place in the Chicago area, where so much great jazz has emanated from.
As the founder and present Artistic Director of the International Association of Schools of Jazz, an organization with member schools from nearly 40 countries, I am very aware of the incredible growth of jazz education programs worldwide. The termination of Northwestern’s program goes against the tide and mystifies me. Maybe it is an administrative problem that is technical in nature, but for such a prestigious university to not have a jazz program at this point in history seems very wrong.
I hope that the powers that be will reconsider the decision. Please feel free to send this letter to anyone in authority at the school.
Yours truly
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Sean McCluskey Chicago jazz pianistDear Friends of NU Jazz,
As an alumnus of Northwestern's School of Music, and a Jazz Studies major, I unfortunately cannot react to this situation with surprise, but only with disgust. I strongly urge every sympathetic member of the School of Music, Northwestern, and Chicago and National Jazz Communities to call the Dean at 847.491.7575 and calmly inform her of your inability to contribute financially to the School of Music unless this situation is resolved properly.
Best of luck in all your efforts.
Seán McCluskey '06
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Ron McCurdy Chair and Professor of Jazz Studies, USC
As one of the consultants retained by Dean Toni-Marie Montgomery and the School of Music at Northwestern University, I have an acute awareness of the challenges the jazz studies program has faced. During the fall of 2005, I along with my colleague Rick Lawn spent the better part of a week talking to students, faculty, staff, and community folks about the state of the jazz program at Northwestern. We found a highly talented and motivated group of students and a very dedicated jazz faculty. The classical faculty is also one of the best in the country and has a distinguished reputation for developing artists of the highest caliber. We quickly identified some of the internal roadblocks that made it difficult for the jazz studies program to move forward.We immediately recommended that the School of Music hire a senior level faculty person, someone who was a renowned and distinguished artist/educator. Since the retirement of Don Owens, there has not been a tenured faculty present to negotiate flexibility with the present admissions policy. In essence, the classical faculty has had the final word on who is admitted and who is not admitted into the jazz program. Professor Lawn and I met with the full faculty to further reiterate that every school of music that strives for excellence should insist on a high level of musicianship. However, the admission process as it currently exists does not take into account the different skill sets necessary for the jazz audition. Prospective jazz majors are required to perform two auditions, one for the jazz faculty and another for the classical faculty. We suggested that someone from the jazz program serve as an advocate for prospective jazz majors who may not possess the classical prowess expected of classical majors, but clearly demonstrate a high level of proficiency in jazz. To my knowledge, this has not occurred.
I mention all of this because much of the blame for suspending next year’s freshman class has been largely directed towards Dean Montgomery. Significant resources have been allocated for faculty positions, jazz forums, faculty travel and curriculum development. This hardly seems like the actions of someone who is trying to abolish the jazz program. The time-line of events listed on the FriendsofNUJazz website chronicles the accomplishments initiated under this current administration. Several faculty part-time positions were added, including those of trombone, Andy Baker, trumpet, Tito Carillo, piano, Joan Hickey, guitar John Moulder and bass, Dennis Carroll. Joel Spencer was given full-time status. Significant resources were allocated for the weekly Jazz Forum directed by Joan Hickey. Lastly, a significant gift was acquired by Dean Montgomery ear marked specifically for the jazz program. The dean and I spoke regularly to discuss the search process and possible candidates. Two very well-known and qualified candidates were offered the position at Northwestern, but both declined. There were other junior candidates who were capable artistically but would have possibly had challenges negotiating policy changes because of their need to navigate the tenure process. In my opinion, it is best to suspend the admissions of new jazz students until a director of jazz studies is identified.
Finally, it is important to note the modus operandi in universities versus that of corporate America. Simply, deans do not have the unilateral power to alter university policies. In this particular case, the dean could not have demanded that the applied faculty admit students into the jazz program. To have done so, truly would have opened a Pandora’s Box. The classical faculty ultimately forced the dean to suspend the jazz program because they refused to admit zero jazz majors for the 2007-2008 academic year. I have confidence that once a qualified director of jazz studies has been identified that the entire School of Music will work together with Dean Montgomery to realize that a strong jazz studies program will only enhance the overall reputation Northwestern has already established.
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Jim McFalls President-Elect, MD Unit IAJE (International Association for Jazz Education), Jazz Trombonist
Dear Friends of Jazz at Northwestern University,I was contacted this afternoon by a student in the jazz studies program there and was dismayed at the news of the dire situation at Northwestern University. It is disturbing to know that fellow colleagues - and most importantly, the students - at such an esteemed institution are completely without support in this matter. Jazz and jazz education are becoming more and more an integral part of the educational system at every level - there is no escaping that fact. The sooner administrators understand that jazz is an art form in the purest sense that demands and perpetuates profound diversity and creative energy, the sooner problems like these would disappear. I would hate to see this abomination occur anywhere, much less at a school in a city that is rich in jazz history and heritage. That would be ironic. And sad.
I applaud your efforts.
Sincerely,
Jim McFallsJim McFalls
Visiting Artist/Big Band Director
Jazz & Commercial Music Division
Towson University
President-Elect, MD Unit IAJE
Antoine Courtois Trombone Artist/Performer
www.JimMcFalls.com
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Chip McNeill Chairman Jazz Division, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
Dean Montgomery and the NU School of Music administration,I would like to echo the sentiments of many of the nations' top jazz musicians, educators and former students who feel your decision to drop the jazz degree program (for all intent purposes, jazz course offerings, jazz faculty and jazz students) at NU is a huge mistake. Not supporting jazz and not having a jazz component at a major institution such as NU, given todays' music career market, is in my opinion, a great disservice to your students and your community.
If the reason for this decision is out of fear of jazz or lack of respect for America's ONLY indigenous art, then I would ask you to look at the history of music education in major universities throughout not only the nation but the world, over the last 50 years or so. Higher education has embraced our contribution to art music (jazz) world-wide and I would argue, recognized the inherent value of having jazz be an equal component along with other forms of music in ANY quality music education setting. In fact, most of today's top music educators and performers are products of music programs that helped them to be top educators and performers in not only jazz or classical but both. This is simply a matter of staying in touch with market demands put on today's music students.
Jazz education certainly contributes to and stimulates (via improvisation abilities) creative, imaginative thinking on the part of music students. It can add to and nurture a crucial part of any great musician, the soul! To ignore this type of offering for your students is not a healthy music education environment. The jazz program at U of I has accepted several former NU students who are pursuing graduate jazz degrees and we have always found them to be terrific students both creatively, performance-wise and academically. This is a tribute to the hard work your current jazz faculty has done on their behalf. I think it would be wrong to ignore this fact. I would like to see more of the talented NU jazz students persue graduate degrees here at U of I but it would be ashamed if talented jazz students were not able to attend NU for jazz anymore.
I would urge you, your administration and faculty to reconsider this decision for the sake of your students and the fine jazz faculty you have currently. Taking measure from all the letters of current and former NU students I have read, it seems that jazz is wanted there and supported by the community as well.
Sincerely,
Chip McNeill
Chairman Jazz Division
University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign
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Chuck Marohnic Director of Jazz Studies Emeritus, Arizona State University
I am also saddened about the demise of the NU Jazz program.It is inconceivable that a music school with the reputation that Northwestern has would allow such a thing to happen. And in Chicago???
I fought the classical vs. jazz fight for 23 years but thankfully with the advent of younger, more diverse faculty and administrators coming on board, things finally began to turn in the right direction.
Northwestern doesn't realize the negative impact this will have on their national reputation as a credible school of music.
They need to get their act together.
Sincerely,
Chuck Marohnic
Director of Jazz Studies Emeritus
Arizona State University
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Chris Oberholtzer Director of Jazz Studies, University of Southern Maine
I write in an effort to share my thoughts with regard to the troubling news that Northwestern University is cutting their jazz program. Perhaps "troubling," is not the correct word. This situation seems to be more of a travesty than merely troubling.The fact that a university with the musical reputation of NU would consider this to be an option baffles me. I have numerous friends and colleagues who have attended NU both as undergraduate and graduate students, they are as dismayed as I to hear of this disturbing news. I cannot imagine that any of the institutions from whom I hold degrees (University of Southern Maine, Indiana University and the University of Northern Colorado) would consider such a decision to be a viable plan of action.
While I am able to appreciate that not all faculty members (or administrators) agree on which forms of music are indeed artistic. I am also able to go the next step in appreciating that not all forms of music may be appropriately taught in an academic institution such as NU. To consider one of America's original art forms, jazz, as not worthy of teaching in an academic setting is a monumental error. This decision will adversely effect first your students and then the fundamental quality of the undergraduate and graduate programs that NU has to offer. To my knowledge the past twenty five years have witnessed the inclusion of jazz (both performance and education) as a fundamental necessity a high-quality music curriculum, not only at the collegiate level but in our high schools and middle schools as well.
In my experience it is widely agreed that jazz is one of our country's national artistic treasures. To look the other way, or worse, look for artistic merit only in the past, appears to be a monumental error that NU may be making. As one of our country's leading academic institutions, Northwestern University has an implied responsibility to propel the artistry of music forward. In short, the exclusion of a diverse and comprehensive jazz curriculum would have the effect of academically moving the Northwestern School of Music twenty five years in the past. I hope that the faculty and administration will reconsider the effect this decision will have on the academic community and more importantly, their students.
Sincerely,
Chris Oberholtzer
--------
Dr. Chris Oberholtzer
University of Southern Maine
37 College Ave.
Gorham, ME 04038
(207)780-5126
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Matt Olson Director of Jazz Studies, Furman UniversityDear Friends of NU Jazz, In addition to writing to Dean Montgomery, I wanted to post a letter here. I received my Bachelor of Music in Saxophone Performance at NU in 1994, and was in the second class of Master of Music in Jazz Pedagogy graduates in 1995. I was part of a small group of dedicated jazz students who were on campus when the jazz studies program grew and took shape. The addition of Mike Kocour and Tony Garcia, and the development of the Jazz Pedagogy degree program all happened while I was a student at NU. Needless to say, those years were very exciting times, and, like so many other students, I benefited greatly from the additional opportunities that these new faculty provided. I also felt that the jazz scene at NU was exponentially healthier when I left than it was when I arrived, and I know we were all proud of the developments that occurred. Every day that I work with my own jazz students at Furman, a small school in South Carolina, I draw upon the things I learned from Mike, Tony, and Don Owens. Without my NU experience,
I am certain that I would not be making a living as a musician.
While this news is troubling and saddening, it is not surprising. NU has always been a first-class institution focused on “classical art music”, and it seems that a majority of the current faculty do not believe that jazz is the high art form that jazz musicians know it to be. Perhaps the reason that few students have been accepted and the searches for a new Director of Jazz Studies have been unsuccessful has more to do with the admission requirements for jazz studies students. It seems that jazz studies majors are required to successfully compete against strictly classically trained prospective students for admission. As such, it is likely that no prospective faculty member would want to try to build the world-class jazz program that NU deserves, since recruiting the very best jazz students in the country would be extremely challenging under those conditions.
Beyond that, it is a sad truth that important decisions in academia are often made for a wide variety of reasons, and many of these decisions have little to do with the actual role of higher education: to teach. The heavy emphasis that most universities place at upon its faculty to be research stars (in music, this translates to having an “international reputation”) far exceeds the demand for quality teaching. I am very grateful to work at a school that truly values teaching.
Since this decision seems to already have been made, there is likely little that any of us can do to reverse things. However, I will be certain to direct my alumni donations, especially as I become better equipped to donate in the future, to my other alma mater: the University of Illinois, an institution that has fully and warmly embraced the jazz tradition. To think that a school in the middle of corn fields would have a better jazz situation that one that is minutes away from one of the birthplaces of jazz is simply astounding. I truly never thought this day would arrive, and I am deeply disappointed that the school that gave us jazz students so much would now turn its back on this wonderful music.
Sincerely,
Matt Olson
Director of Jazz Studies
Furman University
Greenville, SC
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Don Owens Former Northwestern Head of Jazz Studies
It's hard to know where to begin, so as we say in our Music, I'll just "sit in." For two years I've remained silent, hoping that a great successor would be appointed to lead Jazz at Northwestern to bigger and better things! I feel it's okay for me to speak now.First, to the current Jazz Majors at Northwestern University, I could not be more proud of anyone in this world. You have brought honor to our Music, and to yourselves, to your teachers - at NU (especially the jazz ones) and those before college, to your parents. It was my honor to work with you, if only briefly. I'll never forget you! And, I will never forget all of the "kids" who worked hard and long to make Jazz a part of NU.
To the current and past faculty members who worked so well with our students and took part in the good fight, thanks can't even begin to describe my gratitude. Mike Kocour, Tony Garcia, Tito Carrillo, Andy Baker, David Ness, Joan Hickey, and Joel Spencer, who has held the Program together during two years of what had to be adversity and frustration. To the current group of superior Jazz Educators on staff I offer my sincerest respect for your hard work and excellence.
To the many who have written letters on this site, thank you. I'm overwhelmed, and obviously, you've made a difference! At the very least, you've gotten the attention of one of the Department Chairs. (See below.)
To the former folks who studied at NU and had way too many nice things to say about this 'ol country boy, I'm moved to tears.
It has come to my attention that the Chair of the Performance Studies Department, Charles Geyer, has told Joel Spencer, "this is not right." More importantly, Charlie is trying to make a difference. It's my understanding he's convinced at least the affected classical faculty, unanimously I'm told, that the School of Music needs to restructure the audition procedure for Jazz Majors. Quite truthfully, this has been the stumbling block to creating a GREAT JAZZ PROGRAM at Northwestern University. Academics are not the issue, talent is not the issue. Fair screening procedures and fair decision makers have been the issue! The Jazz Faculty has never had control of who is or who is not admitted. We could offer our evaluations, but the classical studio teacher heard all applicants, including Jazz prospectives and then rated all the applicants in a list, giving the best a score of 9, the next 8, etc. If a student was a 9 in Jazz, and was less than a high score, they were not admitted, with an occasional exception. The last recruiting class I oversaw, we had our top trumpet player as a 9, but he received only a 6 classically. He was not admitted by us. He went to DePaul. If a kid wants to be a dance major, should he/she have to audition on the piano? If a kid wants to be a classical orchestral trumpet player, should he/she have to blow 2 choruses over "Rhythm changes" only to be heard by a Jazz Faculty member? Or, if a kid wants to be a classical alto saxophonist, should he/she be required to play from only the Omni Book? I hope Professor Geyer can convince the rest of his faculty that Eastman, Michigan, Oberlin, Indiana, USC have not fallen apart.
I've also heard that recently, the Dean said that there will be auditions for Jazz Majors this January for the academic year 2008-2009. If this is true, and I certainly hope so, I hope that a declaration that the BM in Jazz Studies is no longer suspened occurs immediately so we all can stop writing letters and begin aggressive recruiting. I have sent Dean Montgomery a letter stating the obvious and also encouraging a quick and definitive decision for a new audition procedure and I've nominated a person who I think deserves the job, who has earned it my view. Joel Spencer.
For 26 years I fought for our Music at Northwestern. In spite of many, we created the MM in Jazz Pedagogy and BM in Jazz Studies. We tried to work within the system even though it was prejudiced against us. There are many good and decent folk within the School of Music, it's time for them to speak up and be heard and make a difference.
Again, to all who have spoken on behalf of our Music and for keeping Jazz alive at Northwestern - THANK YOU!
Respectfully,
D. O.
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Mary Jo Papich IAJE President Elect
Dear Dean Montgomery,As a a long time jazz educator and Fine Arts Department chair at neighboring Highland Park High school, I was extremely dissappointed to hear that NW is considering eliminating theri jazz studies program. Unfortunately, it simply reinforces the belief that the study of jazz at NW is not on an equal footing with the classical counterparts. I urge you to reconsider your decision. Eliminating the jazz program at NW is not only a step back for the university...it is a step back for jazz education. Can't find someone qualified to fit the vacant position? I know several outstanding candidates who applied and could have been a great asset to the school. Please reconsider...it is not too late.
Mary Jo Papich
Jazz educator - Highland Park High School
IAJE President Elect
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Steve Ramsdell Chicago jazz guitarist and educatorThe Jazz Pedagogy degree I earned at Northwestern University was an important step in developing my skills and establishing a career.
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Craig Roselieb Chicago high school band director and NU alumnusMay 14, 2007
Dear Friends of Jazz at Northwestern University,
I am an alumnus of the NU jazz program from 1987-88; jazz tenor player in the NU Jazz Ensemble, and director of the NU Jazz Lab Band. That year was a terrific year in the program because of a wonderful director named Don Owens who with the help of Alumni all across the country put together a wonderful 10-day spring break tour through New York, Washington D.C., Baltimore and Philadelphia. On several occasions since, I have been fortunate to participate in an Alumni Jazz Band hosted by the Alumni Club at the Jazz Showcase downtown Chicago. Twice, I have also been able to bring my high school band from Downers Grove South High School to the NU Jazz Day in April, once this last year in 2006, and to the first event that was held in 1996. The format on that day gives both high school and college students the whole day to listen and learn about playing and teaching jazz music in an intimate and highly informative setting.
Since the retirement of Don Owens, a staunch supporter of jazz studies at Northwestern, there have been issues regarding the importance jazz music has in the curriculum of study at this University. One of my best friends from the graduate class of 1988 was Mike Brothers. He has since gone on to become a premier percussionist and drum set player with Broadway show touring companies. He came to Northwestern University for his Masters degree because of the Chicago music scene, and the important role Northwestern has always played in developing future professional musicians in this area. Other great jazz players from that year include pianist Michael Pagan, who heads up his own college jazz program in Colorado, and Rex Richardson who is a nationally acclaimed jazz trumpet recording artist, not to mention the other 40 or so musicians who were involved in just that one year of the program who have gone on to tremendous success in music teaching and performing careers.
The way I see it now is this: Northwestern University can either choose to continue supporting jazz music majors through a jazz studies major, and a jazz music faculty, or students who want to develop their jazz education in the Chicago area can attend DePaul University instead. Northwestern University will loose out on some of the best young players who want to study all forms of music, not just classical or “legit.”
I can imagine that college faculty members all across the country were arguing about the “legitimacy” of jazz music back in the 1950’s and 60’s when Stan Kenton and Woody Herman began recruiting college players into their groups. That scene has changed a bit since then with new bands like Gordon Goodwin’s Phat Band and players like Wynton Marsalis, but the argument was won then and it should always prevail that jazz music is America’s only true form of music. Jazz is “Made in America”, and one of the countries leading Big Ten Universities in the city that helped give jazz it’s birthplace, Chicago, should be supporting the continuing development of jazz music now and for the foreseeable future.
Craig Roselieb
NU Class of 1988 Graduate School
Band Director
Downers Grove South High School
1436 Norfolk, Downers Grove, IL 60516
croselieb@csd99.org
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Jim Rotondi Jazz Trumpeter and Professor, SUNY/Purchase CollegeDear Dean Montgomery,
I am writing to you as a colleague and fellow educator who, having had some experience with your program, most recently in a workshop in September 2006, would like to express my distress at the grave situation with your jazz department. I sincerely hope that all due course was followed to prevent this situation, and further, I would like to offer any assistance possible in order to circumvent it. Needless to say, we can't afford to lose your program, especially in a city with as rich a musical heritage as Chicago. Please call on me with any request.
Sincerely,
Jim Rotondi
Professor of Jazz Trumpet
SUNY/Purchase College
Purchase,NY
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Neil Slater Chair, Division of Jazz Studies & Director, One O’ Clock Lab Band at University of North Texas
May 18, 2007Dear Dean Montgomery,
I am very disappointed in the decision to eliminate the jazz program at Northwestern University. Jazz, an American art form, has stylistically influenced all forms of music since the early twentieth century. In the world of professional of music, it is essential for performers and teachers to have the experience and knowledge to interpret and/or discuss jazz music. It saddens me to know that such an important university, in a major American city, has elected to discontinue the study of our heritage. This decision diminishes music education. I hope you will reconsider your position.
Sincerely,
Neil Slater
Chair, Division of Jazz Studies
Director, One O’ Clock Lab Band
University of North Texas
Denton, TX
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Marvin Stamm Jazz TrumpeterDear Dean Montgomery,
Needless to say, I was surprised and disappointed when I learned from a Northwestern student Web site that you and a committee of faculty members - none of whom are part of the Jazz faculty at Northwestern - had decided to suspend the undergraduate Jazz Studies major. When someone subsequently forwarded me your May 17 statement regarding this subject, I was shocked at some of what you had to say. And though it pains me to do so, I feel the need to address some of your remarks and some of what we discussed the two times you and I talked.
As one of the final candidates in the search ending in spring 2006, I was taken aback at your comment that "the searches had been unsuccessful in identifying and recruiting a person with the necessary background and qualifications." Because the Jazz Education community is fairly small and people talk between one another, I happen to know who the other finalists were at that time. The candidates other than myself were certainly well-qualified; and I believe my forty-six year career as a sought-after studio musician and Jazz performer/educator speaks for itself. To lay the blame for not choosing a "qualified" Director of Jazz Studies at the feet of those who applied and were finalists is patently unfair and also untrue. Each of us has proven track records in one or more fields of music performance and Jazz education and is more than qualified. The problem lies within the School of Music; and as you and I discussed, no matter who might be chosen, no one - whatever their "background and qualifications" - could bring the Jazz area to the level of the classical area unless changes in policy and attitude were made within the school.
As we talked in your office during my interview at Northwestern - and later by telephone at your request - you and I agreed that policies within the School of Music were the elements prohibiting the Jazz Studies program from achieving, once again in your words, "the high standards for which our school is known." As you recognized in both our conversations, the requirement that students applying to the Jazz program take and be judged by the same classical audition as the classical students was one of the reasons preventing their acceptance and entry into the program. Another - and probably more significant reason - is the intransigent attitude on the part of many of the classical faculty to NOT ALLOW Jazz students any of the "slots" allotted to their applied studios. This certainly prevents qualified Jazz applicants from being admitted to the Jazz undergraduate program at Northwestern. Heaven forbid that Jazz applicants who receive a "ten" on their Jazz auditions, but a "six" or "seven" on the classical audition, be allowed to fill one or more of those slots; to this point, this has been anathema to the majority of your classical faculty. Let's be candid, Dean Montgomery, putting the blame on something other than what has been the prevailing attitude of most of the classical faculty at Northwestern is deceitful.
In both our conversations, you expressed a strong desire to change the selection process whereby Jazz majors were discriminated against by these admission policies – the requirement of their taking a classical audition and their being denied by the faculty even a minimum number of slots dedicated to Jazz students. I knew this was going to be a tough job for you, a "hard sell" to the faculty hard-liners who refuse to recognize the validity and value of America's only original music. To them, our music is insignificant, hardly an element to be afforded importance in your curriculum. Even so, I felt you just might accomplish this difficult task; I see that I was mistaken.
Interestingly, I know several of your faculty, and, certainly, I know others by reputation. Your faculty is marvelous and has my greatest respect as performers AND teachers. Yet, I find it strange and baffling that people in academia on this high a level feel the need to distance themselves from this music, declaring it by their actions, unfit for inclusion. Yet many of their professional colleagues - in Chicago and all over the world – find this music of definite significance. Among these whom I know are Bud Herseth, Ray Crisara, John Hagstrom, Jim Thompson, Charles Schleuter, Philip Smith, Mark Gould, Dennis Najoom, Thomas Stevens, Mario Guaneri, Rob Roy McGregor, Ray Sasaki, Jens Lindemann, and Ryan Anthony; and these are among the many just from the trumpet community. In all the other instrument groups, there are numerous others. These people have standing beyond question in the symphonic and classical world. How is it that there are so many among your faculty - in a university so highly respected as Northwestern - who, in a seemingly arrogant manner, deem to place themselves in judgment of a music accepted as valuablend highly relevant by such artists as these? And to deny their own classical students the advantages and values embodied by this music is to be educationally and professionally negligent.
As a performer and in my role as educator, performing numerous master classes and clinics, I have never drawn lines according to the styles of music being performed. I am classically trained and respect players of all genres of music. When asked to comment or critique various players in an educational setting, I approach them with comments and suggestions based upon my musical experiences - values and insights acquired from my many years of performing and also playing next to some of the greatest musicians in the world. Musicality bridges all gaps, and I cannot understand why any classical teacher would not find great joy in teaching and helping a talented young Jazz student achieve mastery of his or her instrument the same as he or she might in teaching a talented classical student. Any teacher's reputation can only be enhanced by a broader scope of the musical spectrum exhibited by his or her students.
While what I have written may anger or disturb you or some of your faculty, what I say is nevertheless true - and whether any of these faculty members want to recognize it or not - it has been true for many years. It is written in the history of your School of Music. It is very sad, but even sadder is what is being culturally denied the students of the Northwestern University School of Music. The students are my concern; they are the ones being denied. I can only hope the light of reason somehow begins to shine through and the policies I have written about can be changed, and your decision reversed - for the enlightenment and benefit of your students.
With deep sincerity,
Marvin Stamm
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Joshua Thompson NU Jazz Alum and High School Band DirectorDear Friends of Jazz at Northwestern University,
How sad to see that Northwestern is giving up on the jazz pedagogy major. I can't say how proud I am to have been part of the growth of the jazz program and eventually leading to the addition of a jazz major. It is sad that, as one letter put it, students who want to study jazz in Chicago will go to Depaul or NIU. Being a band director at Lake Zurich High School here in Chicago, my jazz education at Northwestern prepared me for teaching jazz band and helped me develop my bands into one of the better jazz programs in the area. Having been a part of the NU Jazz Day with my band in 2004, I was proud to offer my students a look at a growing jazz program. Were it not for the amazing leadership of Don Owens and the outstanding teaching of Mike Kocour, I wouldn't be able to do what I'm doing at the level that I am. This was prior to the jazz pedagogy major being established. I really felt that the program was making headway back then. I do not know why jazz majors are not being admitted or if the audition process has created the problems in establishing the program, but the loss of key educators such as Kocour, Tony Garcia, and the inability to replace Don Owens only seem to highlight the a lack of support has crippled an up and coming program. Jazz music education, much like classical music education is the only way for these music genres to continue. For Northwestern to turn its back on the jazz program in this way is deeply troubling. Jazz is America's art form, grow the program, work to develop it, don't cut it!
Sincerely,
Joshua Thompson
Band Director, Lake Zurich HS
Class of 1995Joshua Thompson
Lake Zurich HS
300 Church St.
Lake Zurich, IL 60047
847-540-4319 Voice Mail
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Lazaro Vega Jazz Director, Blue Lake Public RadioMay 23, 2007
Dear Friends of Jazz at Northwestern University:
First WBEZ breaks with jazz and now Northwestern University takes a step back away from a music which owes much of its existence to the city and musical environment of Chicago: Strange doings considering the rise of jazz education in the broader world of music education.
That as prestigious a university as Northwestern would back jazz out of its practice rooms and recital halls is contrary to the prevailing ascendance of jazz education in middle, secondary and higher education across the country.
Today in west Michigan, for example, when Western Michigan University in Kalamazoo holds its annual high school jazz festival there are around 30 big bands signed up to play. Appears those students as they decide where to invest in their future will be heading elsewhere for “higher” education.
Having a jazz component at Northwestern is an important element of an overall education. Here’s hoping the University will reconsider their choice to let school out for improvisers.
Lazaro Vega
Jazz Director
Blue Lake Public Radio
Blue Lake Fine Arts Camp
www.bluelake.org
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Chuck Vollherbst Associate Bandmaster, US Army BandDear Friends of NU Jazz,
Although I have no affiliation with Northwestern, I feel it is proper and necessary to express my regrets and dismay at the decision to eliminate the Jazz Program at NU. Northwestern has always had an excellent reputation as an outstanding music school. More than a few Military conductors and musicians have done either their undergraduate or graduate studies there.
The study of jazz is more than an introduction into America's true art form, but means of expanding one's musical horizons. Any modern study of composition, arranging, conducting or performance must include knowledge of jazz to include it's harmonies, rhythms, history and various styles. While many colleges and even high schools are expanding their jazz programs, it is incredible that Northwestern would consider eliminating theirs.
Universities must make difficult fiscal decisions every year in order to operate effectively. Hopefully, Northwestern University can find a solution that will allow this course of study to continue.
CW5 Chuck Vollherbst
Associate Bandmaster, US Army Band "Pershing's Own"
Director, The Army Blues Jazz Ensemble
703-696-7808/3647
usarmyband.com
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Doug Wamble Jazz Guitarist and NU Graduate
Dean Montgomery-Given that jazz music isn't valued enough by the powers that be right now in academia, I am sadly certain that a letter from a marginally known jazz musician will make much difference. However, since I am fortunate enough to have a Masters diploma from Northwestern, I felt I should at least provide another perspective on this matter.
It is the duty of any music education facility to provide a wide range of artistic endeavors for the students that provide the tuition that funds places like NU. Anything less does everyone a disservice. While it is puzzling to me that jazz is frowned upon by so many, it is tragically just a reflection of America's deepest problems. Anything of substance and value that has been given to America by the descendants of slaves is given second-class status, much like the actual descendants after emancipation. In pop culture society, there is a celebration of vulgarity and depravity when it comes to hip-hop. The non-destructive hip-hop artists are ignored, to be sure, but it is nothing compared to the blind eye America turns to our greatest artistic acheivement: jazz music.
While nothing I could say will convince anyone of anything, your actions will have consequences, and grave ones at that. You are sending a message to the academic world that music descended from African-Americans isn't as important as other artforms. Lest you dismiss me as a militant, I assure you I'm as white a man as there is. The difference with me, though, is that I know where this music comes from, and I know why it is denigrated by academic institutions.
My hope and prayer is that jazz musicians like myself can raise our children to be better than this. In some small way, that will contribute to a meaningful change in the way our institutions look upon jazz music. We can teach our children that the dreams of Fredrick Douglass, Dr. King and John Coltrane can all come true if we're willing to own up to our national wounds. Whether you choose to accept it or not, the root of academia's dismissal of jazz cuts to the core of American racism. Imagine for a moment that someone proposed eliminating Copland and Stravinsky from the classical program. It's unthinkable isn't it? So, too, is a time-honored University's willful dismissal of America's finest hour in art.
Someone out there has managed to make this unthinkable a reality.
Shame on you all.
Doug Wamble
New York, NY
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Scott Weinhold Saxophonist – The United States Army Band
As a saxophonist who has made his living playing music I have to say that it would be a real disservice for any institution to ignore the value of jazz and pop music. Had it not been for theses skills, I would likely being doing something other than playing music to earn my living. I studied classical saxophone and played jazz to support myself. I find it a real shame that any music school, especially the larger ones, would limit its students to music in the western “classical” tradition. I think that larger institutions have an obligation to lead the way in moving art forward and recognizing the merits of all music. As someone who now has to listen to auditions I can only tell you that our industry is getting more and more competitive. We are only damaging our students’ abilities to pursue music as a career when we limit the avenues they can take.Scott Weinhold
Saxophonist – The United States Army Band, Washington, DC
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Steve Wiest Jazz Composition/Arranging and Trombone,The University of North Texas
Dear Friends of Jazz at Northwestern University,In 2006 I had the honor of interviewing for the position of Director of Jazz Studies at Northwestern University. Joel Spencer and all the members of the search committee made me feel right at home and we had a wonderful time the entire day. Throughout the process I was struck by the passion, talent, and intelligence of the NU students. In fact, my favorite part of that day was the session with the students themselves where we spoke of their hopes and plans for the jazz program. While their morale in general was low at that point due to certain events, they were hopeful for the future and were looking forward to the promise of a fully supported and thriving jazz program. With this kind of passion in the student body, I believe that anything is possible. To have that hope and passion dashed by the recent turn of events is a great tragedy. While I have tremendous respect for the administration of the school of music at Northwestern and realize that there are factors at work here beyond their control, I hope that there is still time and opportunity to reconsider the finality of cutting the jazz program.
Here in the 21st century, we live in a world where versatility in the arts is a necessity. To specialize in an area is wise, but to be able to perform convincingly in many styles is fast becoming the norm. A great example of this can be found with a student at the University of North Texas where I am now teaching. Jeremy Wilson is a member of the 1:00 Lab Band (the very competitive premiere jazz group at UNT) and recently won a position as a member of the Vienna Philharmonic trombone section. This kind of diversity is becoming standard procedure at institutions such as UNT that embrace this principle of versatility. Far from being impossible or undesirable, this approach is essential in building a viable career in the arts. I believe that a thorough education in both jazz and classical traditions will make for the best possible musician. To cut out one of these areas of study in a modern music program is to render that program passé.
It is my fervent hope that Dean Montgomery and the entire faculty of Northwestern University School of Music will embrace the grass-roots passion that is exemplified by the NU students of jazz and will support America’s own classical music by reinstating the jazz program and supporting it fully in the years to come. There are many great educators who would be honored to be director of such a program and with students such as have been in evidence throughout this crisis, there is no limit as to what a jazz program at Northwestern University can achieve.
Respectfully submitted,
Steve Wiest
Jazz Composition/Arranging and Trombone
The University of North Texas
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FACT: FAR FROM A DYING PROGRAM
TIMELINE OF EVENTSFall 1994
-Northwestern School of Music introduces Master of Music in Jazz PedagogyFall 1999
– Northwestern School of Music introduces a major in jazz studies.Spring 2004
– Pianist and full-time jazz instructor Mike Kocour leaves NU when an offer of tenure track position at another university is not matched by Northwestern.Fall 2004
– Trombonist Andy Baker, trumpeter Tito Carillo, and Pianist Joan Hickey join as part-time faculty, offering instrument-specific instruction.
- Drum Set instructor and Combo Coordinator Joel Spencer receives full-time position vacated by Mike Kocour.Winter 2005
– Jazz Studies Director Don Owens announces his retirement during winter quarter. Dean Montgomery chooses to wait until the following year to conduct a search for a new director.
- The Masters Jazz Pedagogy Program is suspended until further notice.Spring 2005
- Music students organize townhall style meeting with Dean Montgomery on May 9. Concerns are voiced regarding the perceived instability of the program due to recent faculty departures. Dean Montgomery pledges support for the program.Fall 2005
- Dan Farris is named Jazz Studies Interim Coordinator of Jazz Studies, with Joel Spencer as "Artistic Director."
– Guitarist John Moulder, Bassist Dennis Carroll and composer/ arranger Mike Pendowski join the adjunct faculty.
- Joan Hickey becomes the organizer of weekly Jazz Forums, bringing in nationally-recognized artists every week. Guests include Rufus Reid, Bob Mintzer, David Liebman, Chris Potter, Dave Douglas, Jim Rotondi, Dana Hall, Terrell Stafford, Ron Blake and Eric Alexander.
– Jazz consultants Rick Lawn and Ron McCurdy evaluate the program. Their observations include the recommendation that the admissions process be altered to allow the jazz program to better meet its needs.Winter 2006
- Three candidates for the Jazz Studies directorship interview at Northwestern.
- Saxophonist John Wojciechowski joins the faculty.Spring 2006
– Dean Montgomery announces that she will reopen the search in the 2006-2007 school year, stating, “My decision to reopen the search reflects my commitment to identifying an individual who can help us achieve the ambitions set forth in the consultants' report1.” No explanation is given as to why this first search is a failure.Fall 2006
- Joel Spencer is named Interim Coordinator of Jazz Studies
- Composer/arranger Tom Garling joins the adjunct faculty.
- Andy Baker founds and directs a student jazz trombone combo.
- Joan Hickey develops and teaches a quarterly jazz repertoire class.Winter 2007
– Two candidates for the directorship interview at Northwestern.
- Andy Baker develops and teaches a single-quarter Jazz Theory course.Spring 2007
- Zero students are admitted into the jazz program for 2007-2008.
– A committee which consists of several classical performance full- time faculty and zero jazz faculty decides to end the Jazz Studies Director search, agreeing that, “The jazz program is inevitably going to have to end 2.” It is announced at a faculty meeting that the Jazz Studies major will cease to exist once the current majors graduate.Fall 2007
– On November 27, Victor Goines is offically appointed Director of Jazz Studies at NU, effective fall 2008CITATIONS
1 Montgomery, Toni-Marie. “Director of Jazz Search.” Email to all students in the jazz program. May 16, 2006.
2 Geyer, Charlie. Meeting requested and attended by six jazz studies majors. May 15, 2007. Prof. Geyer stated that “there was agreement between the group that the jazz program is inevitably going to have to end.”
NEWS COVERAGEDaily Northwestern Article: Dean meets with students to explain suspension
Forum at Jazz Corner: Northwestern School of Music Eliminates Jazz Major
Forum at College Confidential: Northwestern Eliminates Jazz Studies Major
Time Out Chicago Article: Swing (laid) low
Catalysts & Connections Article: Northwestern University School of Music Cutting Jazz Studies Major
Chicago Tribune article: Students protest end of NU jazz major
The Chicagoist: No More Wild Scats
Forum on TumpetHearald.com: