BRATTLEBORO — Since its opening, Brattleboro's newest music school, the Open Music Collective, has generated support from those seeking musical instruction, musical awareness, and a musical community.
“I believe music connects us on a primal level and the more we listen to each other, the more involved in and open to life we are,” said Kate Parsons, one of the founders of the all-volunteer organization.
Her partner, bassist Jamie MacDonald, agrees. “I think music can teach trust and bring people together who wouldn't normally get along. If more people were musicians, chances are the world would be a better place,” he said.
The Open Music Collective, a nonprofit music education organization, opened in September at the Cotton Mill, lets students participate in ensembles, private lessons, practice space, and engage with each other as musicians and as learners.
MacDonald, a teacher and first-call bassist, has been “paying rent for the last 12 years as a musician.” Parsons, though musically educated at Berklee College of Music, spent most of her professional career as an accountant and businesswoman.
Parsons has been a student in a number of MacDonald's jazz ensembles. “Although I had been studying jazz for 20 years, he opened the musical doors for me and changed my approach to learning.”
She describes MacDonald as offering “a unique talent for instilling confidence at the same time he is presenting heavy challenges.”
“I try to emulate his teaching approach and hope my students will want to do the same,” she said.
“Recently, intriguing studies are showing enhanced learning abilities for children who study music at a young age,” she said. “As someone who pursued music as an adult, I ascribe that it's never too late to learn.”
MacDonald claims that he has “always enjoyed teaching. I have had things passed on to me by masters. I feel like part of what I am doing is passing on the tradition taught to me.”
Other teachers
Other teachers in the collective include local musicians Draa Hobbs, Doug Raneri, Phil Bloch, Vernon David, Zach Pearson, Gil Chase-Pinkney, Ben Carr, and Cara Trezise. The participants offer private lessons for guitar, drums, violin, viola, cello, bass, piano, saxophone, and music composition, in genres ranging from bluegrass to jazz to classical.
Volunteers help manage the organization. Before opening in September, former students, friends, and supporters helped renovate the room, transforming it from an artist's studio to a musical space.
In addition to private lessons, OMC offers a number of student ensembles in a variety of genres.
Visiting jazz bassist Cameron Brown will facilitate three workshops on Nov. 21 – Focus on the Bass, Focus on the Voice, and Being a Musician. On Nov. 22, he will join jazz vocal legend Sheila Jordan for a 4 p.m. concert.
“For the past few years, we have been talking about having a place where musicians could collaborate without genre barriers,” Parsons says - a place “where we can learn from and inspire each other no matter what our level of accomplishment [is].”
The collective will also serve as a venue for concerts as well as workshops.
Theory and expression
The collective's founders feel strongly that OMC should strike a balance between theory and musical expression.
“Although a fundamental understanding of theory is essential, music, as creative expression, must come from personal exploration,” Parsons said. “We're hoping to not only provide the tools, but also the environment for that to happen.”
“We don't want to feel like an institution as much as a 'home' or a place where people feel comfortable and encouraged to be themselves,” MacDonald added.
Zach Pearson, guitar student and teacher at OMC, agrees with MacDonald and Parsons.
“I guess what I appreciate the most about the Open Music Collective is how Jamie [MacDonald] and the other teachers strive to create an educational atmosphere that is comfortable but not complacent,” he said.
“All students, regardless of their level of musicianship, are a welcome part of the organization, as long as they are willing to challenge themselves and be challenged,” Pearson added.