As a student in New England Conservatory’s Contemporary Improvisation department, you will have the opportunity to forge a unique, personal style of improvisation through rigorous aural training combined with an individually tailored course of study.
Gunther Schuller founded this innovative program in 1973 to explore the "third stream" formed when the streams of classical music and jazz are creatively combined. Under the leadership of Ran Blake, a MacArthur Fellow, the program evolved to embrace a rich palette of world music forms. Hankus Netsky, a veteran of NEC as a student and teacher, and founder of the Klezmer Conservatory Band, now leads the program.
Our faculty come from a broad range of stylistic backgrounds, with collective expertise in jazz, 20th-century composition, Jewish folk styles, and North Indian classical music. Master musicians from various world music traditions regularly visit for studio instruction, master-classes, and concerts. Our program is one of the few places in the world where one can absorb and synthesize the music of other cultures in a personal and creative way.
NEC’s Contribution to Contemporary Improvisation
Our graduates include such notable performers as internationally renowned jazz and Klezmer clarinetist Don Byron, keyboardist John Medeski of Medeski, Martin & Wood, and Jacqueline Schwab, whose solo piano improvisations were featured in Ken Burns’s award-winning PBS series "The Civil War."
Department Specifics
Development of Basic Ear Skills
Your studies begin with a rigorous aural training program designed to build basic aural skills. You will be initially assigned a set of recorded melodies, from many different musical traditions, to be sung from memory. This memorization is done solely by ear, allowing you to assimilate the details of each different style and absorb not only the superficial characteristics but also the deeper emotional and spiritual aspects of each piece. You will also work on traditional ear training.
In private lessons, you will be trained in improvisation, composition, and instrumental skills.
Development of Personal Style
As you master basic ear skills, the Contemporary Improvisation program of studies becomes more flexible and becomes tailored to your individual needs. You will begin to define yourself by choosing the artists or styles most germane to your musical personality then, through deep aural absorption of your chosen musical roots, a synthesis becomes possible, and a musical self-portrait will begin to emerge in your improvisations.
Electives supplement the core curriculum outlined above, and may include such courses as "Indian Modal Improvisation," "Yiddish Music Performance Styles," "The Music of Billie Holiday," and "Issues and Trends in American Music."
Anthony Coleman, who teaches "Development of Personal Style," performs Christian Marclay's Shuffle (2007) while surrounded by Marclay's Chalkboard (2010), at New York's Whitney Museum of Art. Video from WNYC on YouTube.
2011-03-15
FELIX MENDELSSOHN