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TOP JAZZ ARTISTS TO LEAD JAZZ IMPROVISATION WORKSHOP FOR HIGH SCHOOL AND COLLEGE STUDENTS AT WILLIAM PATERSON UNIVERSITY IN JULY Pianist James Williams, bassist Steve LaSpina, drummer Richard DeRosa and saxophonist David Demsey, who are among the top artists on today's jazz scene will lead a week-long jazz institute for high school and college students this summer at William Paterson University in Wayne. "Summer Jazz Improvisation Workshop" will run from July 23 to July 29 on campus. Tuition and fees for commuters is $375, which includes music fees, nightly clinics and concerts featuring internationally acclaimed jazz artists and a trip to a New York City jazz club. Tuition and fees for students who choose to reside on campus for the week is $609 and includes all of the above plus room and meals. The workshop curriculum combines music theory with small group performance. Daily sessions focus on jazz theory/improvisation, jazz history, and jazz arranging, followed by group rehearsals and a clinic each afternoon. Concerts featuring top jazz artists will be held each evening in William Paterson's Shea Center. Williams gained recognition as the pianist and music director for Art Blakey's Jazz Messengers. He has toured and recorded with such prominent artists as Thad Jones, Joe Henderson, Clark Terry, and Milt Jackson. A record and concert producer as well as an accomplished composer, Williams was appointed director of jazz studies at William Paterson University in the fall of 1999. LaSpina has toured and recorded with Stan Getz, Toots Thielemans, Joe Williams, Benny Carter, and many other top artists. He has produced numerous solo recordings with his own group and as a sideman, and is a composer of chamber music and jazz. Demsey, who is coordinator of William Paterson's internationally renowned Jazz Studies Program, has recorded solo albums on Golden Crest and Centaur records and has performed with Clark Terry, Milt Hinton, Rufus Reid and the Nelson Riddle Orchestra. Demsey has been a guest performer at Tanglewood, the Great Woods Institute and the Leningrad Conservatory. He is the author of "Coltrane Plays Giant Steps" and is a contributing editor for "Saxophone Journal" and "Jazz Player." DeRosa has composed music for television, including "Another World" and "The Guiding Light," as well as commercials for Kodak and Bristol-Meyers. He has arranged music for Mel Lewis and the Glen Miller Orchestra, and performed and recorded with Jackie Cain and Roy Kral, Bob Krookmeyer, Marian McPartland and many others. Interested students must send in a completed
application by July 12, 2000. Coordinators of the program are
Demsey and Iris Torres, coordinator of community programming
through William Paterson's Center for Continuing Education and
Distance Learning. For additional information, please call Demsey
at 973-720-2268 or Torres at 973-720-2436. ###
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