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Ages 9+ (including adults) – intermediate level If you’re looking for a fun and easy instrument to play, the ukulele is the perfect choice. Students who have acquired the basics of ukulele playing will further their learning about strumming patterns, proper technique and finger movements, fingerpicking patterns, chords and efficient chord changes. Students can contact the instructor regarding purchase of ukuleles, electronic clip-on tuners, and other items. Families welcome to join together. Class size limited to 6 families.
Ages 12+ Play jazz standards in various styles including blues, swing, bebop, Afro-Cuban, modern and fusion in a small group of 4-6 musicians, comprising brass, woodwind and rhythm sections. Students develop ensemble playing and solo improvisation skills, learn how to express themselves and collaborate musically, and memorize songs, melodies, harmonies and chord progressions. Students also learn basic jazz theory: intervals, chords, basic harmonic progressions, voice-leading, scale theory and form. Students observe, listen to, and learn about historical jazz figures, genres and styles to provide the basis for understanding the evolution of musical trends and ideas. While virtual: Students learn to use technology, including iReal Pro and A Capella, as both learning tools and to create performance videos. iPhone or iPad and bluetooth speaker required.
Minimum 2 years instrumental experience required. Audition required for new students. Contact Robyn Searles at rsearles@jccotp.org to schedule an audition.
PLEASE DO NOT REGISTER BELOW UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE ENSEMBLE.
An excellent intergenerational educational and nurturing environment where students gain a strong understanding of orchestral music and develop their ensemble skills. Virtual learning for symphonic repertoire includes weekly rehearsals, sectionals, workshops, discussions and playing assignments. Students come together at the start of rehearsal or at assigned times for each section of the orchestra. Sectional workshops focus on score studying, analysis and form, and interpretation skills. Students learn how to practice more effectively, attain proficiency in their own parts, grasp and appreciate what other players are learning in their parts, and listen to and read from scores. They learn to work with recordings, as a professional recording artist would work with a click track. Weekly projects, which involve listening, practicing and writing, provide a follow-up to lectures and discussion groups. Winners of an annual concerto competition perform in a special concert. Audition required for new students. Contact Robyn Searles at rsearles@jccotp.org to schedule an audition.
PLEASE DO NOT REGISTER BELOW UNLESS YOU HAVE BEEN ACCEPTED INTO THE ORCHESTRA.
Join our award-winning youth chorus! YPC@T is an affiliate of the world-renowned Young People’s Chorus of New York City. Sing at weekly virtual and in-person rehearsals, learn how to read music, create fun mash-up videos, and make friends with others who love to sing! Repertoire ranges from classical and contemporary to jazz and pop. May be taken on its own without being part of a Young Artists Program. Watch our full choir in a virtual performance conducted by choral director Emma Brondolo:
Available for brass, percussion, piano, strings, winds, and voice, the Young Artists Programs include opportunities for monthly recitals and celebrations. Note: Suzuki guitar requires eight parent education workshops. Students taking private lessons for the first time can take a lessons-only program, but are encouraged to add one or more classes or ensembles. After the first year, all private lesson students are required to add one or more classes or ensembles to their program.
Choose a 30-, 45-, 60-, 75-, 90-, or 120-min. private lesson per week. (Note: 60, 75, 90, and 120 min options can be divided into two lessons per week. Beginning students in violin, cello and piano are required to take two 30 min lessons per week.) ADD ONE OR. MORE CLASSES AND/OR ENSEMBLES:
Explore the many ways you can learn and play jazz! Available for drums, percussion, saxophone, trumpet, trombone, flute, clarinet, piano, bass and guitar. We will also consider French horn, baritone horn, strings, tuba and vibraphone. PRIVATE JAZZ LESSONS
Choose a 30-, 45-, 60-, 75-, 90-, or 120-min. private lesson per week. Online lessons are available. (Note: 60, 75, 90, and 120 min options can be divided into two lessons per week.) ADD ONE OR. MORE CLASSES AND/OR ENSEMBLES:
Ever wonder why it helps you as a musician to learn music theory? Does the stuff you learn in music theory seem like it has no relevance to learning the guitar? This class bridges the gap between theory and how it relates to what you play on guitar - for example, how to construct major, minor, augmented, diminished chords, and seventh chords and then figure out how to use this information to find chord shapes in various positions on the fingerboard. Students will do harmonic analysis of Suzuki guitar pieces and then talk about how this information helps shape our musical interpretation. For intermediate and advanced guitarists (Suzuki Guitar Book 2+), Age 10 to Adult. Prerequisite: Students must be able to identify notes on staff, clefs, time signatures and rhythms, and know how sharps and flats work.
Open to Suzuki guitar students (Book 3 and up). The curriculum focuses on building ensemble playing skills through learning original works and arrangements for guitar ensemble, with opportunities to perform in concerts. Students who are studying Suzuki guitar and classical guitar in lessons or programs outside the Thurnauer School are welcome to join by audition or interview to demonstrate an equivalent high standard of technical and musical facility, as well as sight-reading skills, for their level. Audition required for new students. Contact Robyn Searles at rsearles@jccotp.org to schedule an audition.
For intermediate and advanced musicians and composers with roughly 4+ years of experience playing music Students explore contemporary music creation through composition, improvisation and performance. The program focuses on creating new music through collaboration between student instrumentalists and student composers. Students explore modern composition styles and performance techniques — learning some history, creating their own new approaches, and thinking beyond traditional formats to create music that is uniquely theirs. Classes include ensemble rehearsal (online, Zoom), lessons on history and performance technique, and masterclasses with special guest faculty. Students benefit from collaborating with Thurnauer’s composition workshop, Sound Works. The program culminates in the creation of a digital ensemble performance video of a newly composed piece of classical music. Prerequisite: Performance applicants must submit a video performance of a piece of their choice. Composer applicants must submit a PDF score (and if possible a recording or digital rendering) of an original composition. To upload application submission, please email rsearles@jccotp.org. Ensemble led by Zach Herchen
Sing and perform opera, operetta, musical theater excerpts and classical songs. Develop confidence and an understanding of the voice and enjoy singing with friends. May be taken on its own or as part of a Young Artists Program.
Designed to give young musicians the knowledge and confidence to compose their own original music. By listening to and discussing music from the past and present, students learn about all of the ingredients that go into a composition and from there, how to get cooking by crafting and combining these ingredients from scratch. Students emerge from the class able to confidently invent and write down their creative ideas using traditional and non-traditional notation. As a project-based class, students work independently on weekly composition assignments that receive feedback from the teacher, and gain the experience of having their original compositions performed and/or recorded by musicians from the Thurnauer community at several times throughout the year. With at least 1 year of instrumental study. Recommended that students are comfortable with the concepts covered in Theory & Ear Training Beginning A
For Ages 15+ Provides advanced, young musicians with the skills and knowledge to craft original compositions for one-to-many instruments. By listening to and analyzing music from the past and present, across many genres, the class explores what makes music “work” – teasing out the tricks, techniques, and practices that composers have used to invent, expand and develop their creative ideas with the aim of doing so ourselves. Students complete weekly composition assignments, geared towards emerging from the class with several original compositions for a variety of instrumentations. Students’ compositions receive feedback regularly from the teacher, and benefit from collaborating with Thurnauer’s contemporary music ensemble, Ensemble X, to develop and hear their works performed on several occasions throughout the year. With at least 3 years of instrumental study. Recommended that students are comfortable with the concepts covered in Theory & Ear Training Intermediate A.
Individual Music Therapy Sessions incorporate a music-centered approach to working with children and teens with disabilities. These sessions are facilitated by a certified music therapist and explore the relationship of music and improvisation to communication, cognitive, social/emotional and physical development and is effective with the special needs community – especially for those with autism. Sessions are available all day on Mondays, and after 6pm on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. The tuition shown is for 30 weekly sessions of 45 minutes each. We can also help you with paperwork needed for PerformCare. Elizabeth Barone M.A, MT-BC, CCLS is a dually certified child life specialist and board certified music therapist with a background in musical theatre studies from Emerson College and music therapy from Montclair State University. Previous to working with the JCC, Elizabeth founded a music therapy program at Beaumont Children’s Hospital in Royal Oak, MI and is currently working within a behavioral health department at Clara Maass Medical Center In Belleville, NJ.
Hear the sounds of written music before it is played (sight-singing), translate heard sounds into notation (dictation), and connect those experiences to instrumental study. Consult recommendation or schedule a placement evaluation to determine level. Note: Students in Beginning A through Advanced C, and AP Music Theory Prep, will need a small keyboard at home unless they already have a piano. For purchase options, please email rsearles@jccotp.org. In BEGINNING A*, students learn basic notation on the treble clef, playing/singing and hearing intervals, basic rhythms and time signatures, and some improvisation and composition. In BEGINNING B*, students solidify their knowledge of Beginning A concepts. In BEGINNING C*, students learn to hear, play and distinguish among four different types of triads and their inversions, more advanced rhythms such as 16th notes and triplets, and the major scales and key signatures. They also learn to write and read in both treble and bass clef and write small compositions. In BEGINNING D*, students solidify their knowledge of Beginning C concepts In INTERMEDIATE A*, students learn to put triads together into cycles, more advanced rhythm (3 against 2), odd meters, more advanced repertoire, basic 4-part voice leading, 7th chords and inversions, and basic composition. In INTERMEDIATE B*, students solidify their knowledge of Intermediate A concepts. In INTERMEDIATE C*, students learn the Dorian modal system and modal harmony. They improvise and become fluent in writing, playing and hearing these progressions and scales. They write small compositions and analyze modes in orchestral pieces. In ADVANCED A, students begin to synthesize prior knowledge and learn how to use and resolve chords in functional harmony. They connect the chord cycles they learned earlier to harmonic progressions and discover the effect of key signatures on cycles. They learn to play harmonies within a key and handle non-harmonic tones in composition and analysis. In ADVANCED B, students analyze pieces written during the Common Practice Period and learn to identify secondary dominant chords, modulations, and form. In ADVANCED C, students learn augmented 6 chords, and more advanced chromaticism and analysis. Call to schedule a placement evaluation to determine appropriate level.