Workshop 2009

The 2009 edition of the South Delta Jazz Workshop will be from Tuesday July 7 - Saturday July 11, 2009. Stay tuned for more information about our 6th annual workshop

Fraser MacPherson Scholarship

The Fraser MacPherson Music Scholarship Fund was initiated to foster the music education of BC's most promising young jazz instrumentalists. Scholarships are available up to the amount of $2,000 each and are open to resident BC jazz instrumentalists (not vocalists) through age 25, except members of the Board of the Fraser MacPherson Music Scholarship Fund and their immediate families. Check the Coastal Jazz and blues website for more information and application forms

Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival 2008

For those interested some of our jazz workshop faculty are involved with this years Renfrew Ravine Moon Festival. This is a community festival that has been running for some years in east Van. The performance will be on Saturday September 13 starting around 4pm and ending about 9 pm. The music for the event is a suite of jazz/world music based composed by Brad Muirhead with Jared Burrows and Beverley Dobrinsk.

Information about the festival is available from www.moonfestival.net

SDJF on Facebook

Come check out South Delta Jazz Festival on Facebook. Come check out photos and other info about this years festival.

Festival Wrap up

The fifth edition of our South Delta Jazz Festival came to a fine conclusion with our two festival concerts. Friday night featured singer Carmen J. Price singing a selection of jazz standards with the festival band with Lorne Kellett on piano and Ed Orgill on tenor saxophone, with Rob Kohler on bass and Stan Taylor on drums.

Saturday afternoon featured our student workshop ensembles performing on the grounds of Delta Hospital Fine weather and Hot Jazz entertained the crowds from ourf 7 student groups and faculty guests.

Here are some photos of the crowds relaxing in the shade on a warm summer day. Thanks to the Delta Hospital Foundation for cosponsoring this performance with us. Thanks to Envision Credit Union for providing the tents for the day. A special thanks to our Festival title sponsor Century Group who has been with us since the beginning.

Day 2 of the workshop

The workshop portion of the festival is now well underway. Day 2 featured a group ear training class to start the morning followed by masterclasses with instructors on all instruments. Len Aruliah and Ed Orgill gave a saxophone class, while other classes were offered for brass, guitar, bass, drums and piano at the same time. During this time instructors are able to give more individual attention to students needs.

After an afternoon of ensemble rehearsals we finished the day with a live Jam session with all the students outside of Petra's Arts Kafe in Tsawwassen.

Article in South Delta Leader

An article about the Jazz Fest and workshop appeared today in the South Delta Leader. Check out the article here

Music at Tsawwassen Mall

Saturday July 5th from 12 noon - 4 pm there will be live jazz at Tsawwassen Centre Mall as a part of the South Delta Jazz Festival. Tenor Saxophonist / Guitarist John Patton will be featured along with all of the South Delta Workshop faculty members. Come by and see some great jazz in the heart of South Delta.

Information for workshop participants

Greetings Jazz Workshop Participants,

This information is important. Please read all of it!!

I hope you are all looking forward to the South Delta Jazz Workshop as much as we are! We have a great week of music, learning, and fun planned for everyone.

Please note that the workshop will be held at South Delta Secondary School 750 – 53^rd St in Tsawwassen.

Directions to South Delta Secondary School, 750 53^rd Ave, Tsawwassen

-Take Highway 17 to Tsawwassen

-Turn left on 56^th St. (the main street in Tsawwassen)

-follow 56^th south a few blocks past the Tsawwassen Mall to 8A avenue

-turn right on 8A Ave

- follow 8A Ave to the 4-way stop at 53^rd St. You will see SDSS on your left

- turn left on 53rd

-the band room is at the southeast corner of the school

1. The workshop begins Tuesday, July 8 at 9:30 am. We will meet in the band room . Please do not be late as we will have a lot to do on the first day! Parents, please plan to stick around for the first few minutes or so.

Daily Schedule of Events:

9:30 – 10:15 Aural Skills

10:15 -10:30 Break

10:30 – 12:00 Ensemble Rehearsals

12:00 - 12:30 Concert set-up / Lunch

12:30 – 1:30 Concerts (you can keep eating while you listen!)

1:30 – 2:30 Masterclasses and group workshops

2:30-2:45 Break

2:45 – 4:30 pm Ensemble rehearsals

Please arrange to pick up your son or daughter at 4:30 each day. We will do our best to finish promptly at 4:30. Our final concert of the week will be Saturday, July 12 at noon. On that day, the schedule will be quite different. Please see item 6 in this regard. On the evening of Wednesday July 9, there will be a jazz jam session at Petra’s Café in Tsawwassen from 7-10pm. The Café is located near the intersection of 12^th Ave and 56^th St. We encourage students to participate in this event.

2. As usual we will have a wide range of students from beginner level high school players through to very advanced semi-pro players. Students will be assigned ensembles to work with on the first day. Placement may change as we get to know your abilities, needs, and personalities. Our eight full-time faculty members will rotate among the groups on a daily basis.

3. We expect a very high level of courtesy and respect among all participants in the Workshop. We have never had any behaviour problems in the past and we hope to keep it that way again this year. Criticism or poor treatment of other students or disrespectful behaviour towards instructors will not be tolerated. Students who have problems in this regard may be asked to leave the Workshop at our discretion. If a student experiences any kind of discrimination, negative or hurtful comments from others, or if other personal issues arise, he or she should make these problems known to a member of staff immediately.

4. All students should bring a lunch and some snacks every day. There will not be time to drive to the Tsawwassen Mall to get food. Lunchtime is also concert time with our faculty performing from 12:30-1:30pm. Food is important for an event of this kind. We strongly suggest that you bring something healthy that will provide you with the energy you will need for a very full day of music making. Please help us minimize our environmental impact (and our imposition on the school’s custodial staff) by bringing reusable containers for drinks etc. where possible.

5. Please bring everything you will need for making music: extra reeds, strings, patch cords, valve oil, staff paper, pencils and eraser, etc

Drummers, bass players, and guitarists are requested to bring their own amplifiers and drum kits. This equipment can be left at the workshop for the duration of the event and will need to be picked up after the final concert July 12. We cannot store or transport gear for you. If you don't have an amplifier or drum kit please contact us immediately so we can help arrange to get one for you. We will have music stands available. Make sure all of your gear is labelled clearly so it doesn't get lost.

6. Final Concert Information for July 12

Saturday's schedule will be a little different as the student concert will take place from 12-3pm, on at the Delta Hospital Grounds in Ladner. Parents, spouses, friends and relations are all welcome and invited to attend. Bring a picnic lunch and enjoy listening to our students a s they showcase the week’s accomplishments. Admission is free. Rehearsals on Saturday will run from 9:30-10:45 and then we will be heading over to the Delta Show Stage on the hospital grounds for our final performance. We will need help transporting students between South Delta Secondary and Delta Hospital, so if you can help us drive on that day please let us know.

7. The Workshop functions as part of the South Delta Jazz Festival. Please note that there is an evening concert on July 11 at the Equinox Theatre (at the same location as the workshop). Workshop students receive free admission to this event and are expected to attend this concert. Tickets for this show are only $10 for non-workshop participants. Admission to noon hour concerts (12:30 -1:30 Tuesday through Friday) is by donation and admission to final student concert is free. There will be music at the Tsawwassen Town Centre Mall from 12-4 on July 5. Please see the website for more information about concerts. www.southdeltajazzfestival.com

8. Our scholarship money was very limited this year and we have done our best to distribute the available funds in a way that rewards students with high levels of achievement as well as helping those with financial need. Please don’t take it personally if you didn’t get a scholarship. If you have received scholarship funding to attend the camp you will be notified before July 4. You will be asked to write a letter thanking our various sponsors. We will provide the mailing address and other information for this letter and will be taking a group picture to send to them.

Please contact us by responding to this email if you have any further questions.

We look forward to working with all of you!

Best regards,

Jared Burrows and Stephen Robb

Directors, South Delta Jazz Workshop

Jazz at the Breezeway 2008

Once again Century Group will be sponsoring a series of outdoor concerts at the Tsawwassen Centre Mall. From May 31 - September 7, 2008 there will be a series of Jazz concerts, Saturdays from 12 noon - 2 pm.

May 31 - Marty Franklin
June 7 - Tim Barrett
June 14 - Brad Muirhead
June 21 - Clyde Reed
June 28 - Marty Franklin
July 5 - South Delta Jazz Workshop Quintet
July 12 - Cory Weeds
July 19 - Children's Day (no Jazz Music)
July 26 - Stephen Robb & Tommy Babin

August 2 - Ross Bliss Gypsy Guitar duo
August 9 - Brad Muirhead
August 16 - Marty Franklin
August 23 - Ross Bliss Gypsy Guitar duo
August 30 - Tim Barrett
September 6 - Toozdays Rhythm
September 13 - Tim Barrett
September 20 - Cory Weeds
September 27 - Toozdays Rhythm

Save the CBC Radio Orchestra

I'm interupting your regular jazz fest posting here to inform you about the fact that the seventy year old CBC Vancouver Radio Orchestra is being disbanded in November 2008. The pudits will tell you that radio orchestras are a dying breed (this was the last one here in the Americas, but such organizations are still flourishing in Europe). What has been forgotten is that the mandate of our national broadcaster is to promote and foster home grown Canadian talent in both the classical and jazz idioms. The CBC orchestra has been responsible for many commissions of new music by Canadian composers. Also the CBC has cut its Young Composers Competition and is currently removing most of its quality jazz and classical music programing from Radio 2.

If you care about classical and jazz art music in Canada, please sign the petition at savecbcorchestra.com

Faculty 2008

Our main workshop faculty has now been confirmed and bios are now up on our faculty 2008 page. We welcome the return of some familiar faces this year including Rob Kohler from New Orleans, Len Aruliah from London England, and Chris Tinidad and Brad Muirhead from here in Vancouver.
We welcome saxophonist Ed Orgill to the faculty this year (picture on right). Faculty bios are found on our site here.