BRATTLEBORO — Every summer, 80 students from across the nation, Asia, and South America gather in Putney for the Vermont Jazz Center's Summer Workshop, a week of intensive jazz education, concerts, and jamming.
Students have ranged in age from 12 to 80, and they are taught by some of the country's leading musicians, such as vocalist Sheila Jordan and drummer Satoshi Takeishi. And among those students, every summer, are several Windham County residents whose fees are paid by the Jazz Center's Community Scholarship Fund.
The Scholarship Fund has just received a $10,000 grant from The Thompson Trust, a foundation contributing to social and community causes in Windham County.
“This is a major event for us,” said Eugene Uman, Executive/Artistic Director of the Jazz Center. “It means we will continue to bring in students who otherwise just wouldn't be able to attend the program. These students are often among the most enthusiastic and hard-working in a crowd that's already enthusiastic and hard-working, and they inspire others. Plus, they're local.”
The Community Scholarship Fund also helps students attend fall and spring ensemble classes, 10-week sessions beginning in September and February.
Classes are for all ages and include Bebop Ensemble, Latin Jazz Ensemble, Women's Swing Harmony Vocal Ensemble, Gospel Chorus, ear training, theory, and jazz appreciation courses. Each spring and fall, students apply who need help with class fees.
“The classes are reasonably priced, but these are tough times, and our mission is to reach out to the entire community,” Uman said. “If an ensemble needs, say, a bassist, and I know there's a fired-up young bassist at one of the local schools who couldn't afford the class, we can offer him or her help.”
Vermont Jazz Center works closely with teachers at the area's schools to identify potential students for both the summer and year-round programs. All the Center's classes are intergenerational and multi-level, which means 40- and 50-year-old semi-professional musicians are mentoring teenaged players, while those same teens are showing off their chops to retirees dusting off their high-school instruments and love of jazz.
This is actually the second scholarship grant the Jazz Center has received from The Thompson Trust. The first, given in 2007, was for about $8,000, which the Jazz Center matched through a combination of donations and two major benefit concerts.
Over the past five years, this fund has awarded 52 scholarships, averaging four to five students at each summer workshop and each ensemble session. With the new funding, the Jazz Center expects to increase scholarships by about 20 percent annually.
The Jazz Center plans to match the new grant as well.
For information about the Jazz Center, its year-round ensembles and summer program, and its concert season of national and international jazz artists, visit www.vtjazz.org or call 802-254-9088.