NGW Reflects on Summer Success
This past summer was a great season for the National Guitar Workshop, the parent company of WorkshopLive. We had students from around the world travel to the Workshop to take part in the experience, making it one of our most diverse and exciting summers yet. As we are now gearing up for our 25th Anniversary, we reflect back on some of the experiences that have enriched our students.
This past summer, Kim Perlak’s Classical Core class had the opportunity to work with Los Angeles based classical guitarist, Andrew York. This Core class, designed for beginning through advanced guitarists, was conducted as a combination of master class and lecture. York’s introduction to the class began with his performance in the faculty concert, in which he awed the crowd with his precise and thoughtful technique. In the following two days, York worked with the Classical class using a loose master class format, having each student perform a solo for the class.
“Working with such great musicians was very inspiring. The small master class setting is a rare occasion. Typically a student will just play a piece for a guest artist and the artist will critique them. A max of 20 minutes spent with this artist can be inspiring but nothing like spending 2 days with them,” said Dan Seriff, a class participant. “Andrew York was able to communicate to us extremely well and, with the help of Kim Perlak, was able to really connect on our level. I feel like this intimate class setting was a great inspiration for any artist.”
Another classic and incredible NGW moment occurred in the last week of the season, when the Jazz Summit hosted a unique clinic with artists Pat Metheny, John Patitucci and Antonio Sanchez. The NGW Jazz Summit is designed to immerse students in a week long program of jazz studies and events, giving students exposure to this diverse style. Bringing three celebrated artists to the same stage proved to be the perfect capstone of the experience.
“These world renowned artists delivered an extraordinary and relaxed workshop which allowed the students to gain unprecedented access to their artistry,” said Jazz Summit Director, Tom Dempsey. “They followed this workshop up with an amazing set of music which demonstrated everything they spoke of in their clinic. This type of access and experience is one of the defining Workshop experiences that students encounter at our campuses—the highest level of music making and music learning in all styles of music.”
As NGW moves forward into its 2008 summer season and 25th Anniversary, students can expect the traditional, great Workshop experience, along with some new, exciting features. The first of these features is the expansion of the Music Technology curriculum on the main campus, where music software courses will be offered each week of the season, providing students the skills to take their home recordings to the next level. A second feature that will be integrated into the curriculum is more constructive playing time in NGW summits, giving students the further opportunity to apply the skills learned in their courses. These components and many more are sure to make the 25th Anniversary an unforgettable event, celebrating the rich and rewarding experience that thousands of musicians discover each summer.
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