Five local music students are the benefactors of scholarships from Jazz Aspen Snowmass allowing them to attend prestigious summer music camps for advanced studies. Liam Laird and Renee Bruell, both from Roaring Fork High School, along with Joseph Thompson from Coal Ridge High School have been accepted to attend the Berklee Five Week Music Intensive program at Berklee College of Music in Boston. Kevin Martinez and Ethan Spevere, both from Rifle High School, were accepted to attend the Jazz Institute at Brevard at the Brevard Music Center in North Carolina.
JAS is a member of the Berklee City Music Network, a consortium of over 40 community organizations in the US and Canada committed to delivering high-quality contemporary music instruction to youth. Through this partnership JAS is allowed to nominate five students to apply for the Berklee Five Week program each year, with two being selected to receive a full scholarship to the program courtesy of Berklee City Music Network and a travel and lodging scholarship from JAS. In 2019 JAS had three deserving students and was able to send each of them thanks to generous donations provided from numerous JAS women supporters including: Rita Adler, Claudia Coleman, Donna DiIanni, Amy Gibson, Sallie Goldent, Kitzia Goodman, Margi Greenfield, Judy Mann, Elizabeth Mondry, Meg Roth, Sarah Broughton, Jeannie Seybold, Donna Slade, Mindy Wexler, Lonna Stopler, Shawn Thomson, Shannon Ware, Adelaide Waters and Julie Wooley.
The five-week program is the world’s preeminent summer musical performance program. With one-on-one instruction from Berklee’s renowned faculty and a curriculum that offers college credit, this immersive program is designed to enhance the playing skills of pre-college or high school students.
After attending the 2019 JAS District 8 Honor Jazz performance in February, JAS Board Member Elisha Zander and her husband Jeff were so impressed by the talent of the students performing that they reached out to JAS with a very generous offer to provide full scholarships to the Jazz Institute at Brevard, a 12-day program this June committed to providing an authentic, immersive experience in the jazz aesthetic while refining the elements of musical and personal discipline, integrity, and passion. The students’ days will be packed with events including performance, professional recording sessions, masterclasses with guest artists including David Sanborn, private lessons, jazz history, jazz theory, jam sessions, and outreach concerts.
“All five students were accepted to these elite programs based on their auditions and high-level of talent,” says JAS Senior Vice President Andrea Beard. “We are proud to have them represent JAS and the Roaring Fork Valley in Boston and North Carolina and thank the generous donors that helped make these experiences possible.”