The College of Southern Idaho is now taking registrations for CSI Jazz Camp, which will run June 27 - July 1, 2016 at the CSI Fine Arts Center. Jazz Camp is for students 13 and up, including adults who want to learn how to play jazz or increase their skills.

CSI Jazz Camp features a faculty of jazz professionals and educators from around the country providing instruction in all aspects of jazz performance. Instruction is specialized for all common jazz instruments - saxophone, trumpet, trombone, guitar, bass, keyboard, or drums. The faculty has also developed experiences and educational opportunities for students who perform on clarinets, flutes, cellos, tubas and a host of other instruments. The faculty will meet each student where they are skills-wise and construct a positive and supportive experience that is guaranteed to improve the student's ability on their instrument, their knowledge of jazz repertoire, and their comfort in improvising.

Students at the camp will be in direct contact with the performance faculty for six hours each day and will receive instruction in a number of different settings. They will work with their peers in chamber jazz combos, learn the intricacies of technique on their instrument during daily sectionals, and get the opportunity to work with faculty in a big band setting.

Students' love and knowledge of the jazz medium will grow each day during jazz theory and listening lab classes. In jazz theory, students will learn the building blocks of jazz music, which will increase their comfort in improvising communicating through the universal language of music with any musician they encounter in their lifetime. In the listening lab, students will be exposed to the masters of jazz. They will listen to some of the great recordings in jazz history, and study jazz history.

The faculty lineup this year includes Jeremy Wohletz, Scott Prebys, Michael Frew, and Scott Farkas.

Jeremy Wohletz currently serves as Assistant Professor of Woodwinds at Dickinson State University, where he teaches the music theory sequence, music history sequence, woodwind pedagogy, music technology, and all woodwind lessons and woodwind chamber groups. He enjoys a diverse musical life as both a performer and educator. As a performer, he is a large advocate for new music, both performing and commissioning new compositions. One of these commissions was recently chosen to premiere at the 2014 International Clarinet Association convention, involving solo clarinet with electronics. Another piece was commissioned and premiered at the 2012 ICA convention by his guitar and clarinet duo, Pararo.

Scott Prebys is a multi-instrumental percussionist with numerous performances in the jazz, classical, pop and ethnic-music genres. He recently completed a highly-successful career in higher education (37 years) and is a 2009 recipient of the North Dakota Governor's Award for the Arts in Education. As a director/performer, he has made two appearances at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, recorded for the Sea Breeze label, and has served as a clinician in twenty states and four Canadian provinces. Scott continues to serve on the faculty of the Kansas City Jazz Alliance workshops (12 years) and has directed all-state jazz ensembles in Montana, Idaho, South Dakota, and British Columbia. He recently composed and recorded the score for "The Enchanted Highway" (film) and has performed with numerous artists in the jazz and pop fields. His performance groups have consistently received high ratings in festival competition.

Michael Frew is an adjunct instructor of guitar at the College of Southern Idaho where he coaches jazz combos and teaches class guitar and private lessons. He received his undergraduate degree from Utah State University where he studied with Corey Christiansen. Michael is featured on jazz vocalist Liz Wooley's debut CD, A Little Bit Romantic" and has performed in jazz ensembles for Carnival Cruises.

Scott Farkas has been the director of the CSI jazz camp since its creation in 2013. He has been studying and performing music for over 20 years. Originally from New York, Scott holds Bachelor's degrees in music performance and composition from the State University of New York at Fredonia, and a Master's degree in percussion performance from the University of Akron. He has performed music in countless settings across the country and has been a full time member of the faculty at the College of Southern Idaho since 2012 as the director of percussion studies and of the CSI pep band. He has performed frequently around the Magic Valley with members of the local jazz community. He values music education very highly and seeks to always provide the highest caliber experience to students from many and varied walks of life. He has taught community education classes in African Drumming, college performance courses, private lessons, and has worked as a specialist in many local school districts including Kimberly, Buhl, Jerome, Filer, Minico, Declo, and Hansen. He draws on all of these varied experiences to create a positive student centered experience for every participant of the CSI jazz camp each and every year.

CSI Jazz Camp tuition is $275. Tuition will cover all program costs, including tshirts, but students are encouraged to bring their own instruments if possible. Because this is a day camp, the fee does not include meals or housing.

For more information or to obtain a registration form, go to www.csi.edu/jazzcamp or stop by the CSI Fine Arts Center. You can also call Camille Barigar at 732-6288 or e-mail cbarigar@csi.edu.

Camille Barigar