CIVIS Academy Jazz Orchestra 2027 (Madrid)

The course focuses on the rich and little-known tradition of European jazz, which as early as the 1930s showed signs of being a musical style fully assimilated and integrated into various national traditions, which have since taken firm root. 

Through a hands-on approach across several sessions, we'll explore key works from this repertoire, along with the way it has been developed in various European countries, and we will have the opportunity to become familiar firsthand with different works from the European jazz tradition through a practical approach.

The programme will culminate with a final period of rehearsals in Madrid and a final concert in May. There will be a prior online component, so that both the context and the repertoire to be performed can be learned in advance. This BIP is open to Big Band instrumentalists (mainly, wind instruments).

1. Jazz in Europe
2. Wind ensemble playing
3. Big Band repertoire
4. History of popular music in Europe
5. Cultural globalization and its impact in music
6. Improvisation as a basic musical ability
7. Local (national) traditions in jazz music

By the end of the programme, participants will:

• have a deeper understanding of the history of popular music in Europe;
• be able to integrate the concept of cultural globalization with that of local traditions;
• have understood the concept of musical hybridization;
• be able to play jazz standards for wind band from the European tradition; 
• have developed the ability to integrate in a wind ensemble;
• have developed the ability to improvise on a given harmonic progression;
• know how to perform important works of the jazz repertoire;
• be able to integrate oneself in a collaborative, community based artistic project.

With the final concert taking place on the fourth day of the CIVIS Days, the physical part will start four days ahead (5 days and 32 hours overall). 

Rehearsals will take place the first four days between 9:00-12:00 and 14:00-18:00. On the fifth & final day (concert day) there will be a dress rehearsal between 9:00-12:00, followed by the concert itself that afternoon/ evening.

The main aspect of the physical mobility will be the rehearsals and, of course, the concert. The final repertoire will be decided by the conductors according to the received applications. In general, it will consist in 1 hour of music from the great jazz & blues repertoire. 

There will be an initial online meeting between the participants and the instructors to plan the forthcoming asynchronous activities. This will consist in producing every month a short video on some excerpts identified by the instructors, that the participant should play and record to show how they are advancing in the preparation and that the instructors will evaluate. 

There will be at least 3 such moments in the online period.

• during the first meeting, the instructors will specify their view of the pieces performed and will give indications on the most challenging technical parts;
• afterwards, the students will have to practice on their own and regularly report on the advances of their study, by regularly sending videos to instructors that will evaluate them and, in case of need, can have the opportunity to take action and help the students with technical issue.

The integration between the online and in-presence part will be smooth and natural, since the pieces studied in the months before the physical part are the same as those rehearsed together in Madrid. 

Having already practiced the most difficult excerpts will give the students and the instructors the opportunity to concentrate mostly on the emotional part of the artistic creation, and in building the ‘sound of Big Band’.

Virtual part: attendance to at least 80% of the online sessions is mandatory. 

• after each session, attendees must submit a brief summary of the content and an assessment according to a predetermined form;
• students will send a recording of about three minutes each month, from April to June, so that their progress and their knowledge of the repertoire can be evaluated

Physical part: attendance to all rehearsals and the final concert will be mandatory.

• failing to do so will result in exclusion from the final concert, and a negative assessment in the course.
• attendees are expected to have studied the repertoire in advance and to show a collaborative and respectful attitude during rehearsals and final concert. 

Motivation Letter

Level of english (According to CEFR)

Short CV, with indication of musical instruction and/ or experience

Video recording, if not associated with the university Big Band or orchestra

• assessment by Big Band or music ensemble leaders in each university (if any); 
• assessment of a short recording, to check the candidate's musical skills, if not associated with the university Big Band or orchestra;
• asessment of musical CV.

German Labrador Lopez de Azcona. Full professor of music at UAM and director of Centro Superior de Investigación y Promoción de la Música at UAM. Researcher of Spanish music of the Early Modern period. He has recently promoted the recovery of Spanish popular music from the 1920s and 1930s, and of the earliest examples of jazz in Spain. 

Roberto Spadoni. Coordinator of the jazz area at Musica Sapienza and versatile jazz musician, active as guitarist, composer, arranger, and conductor of jazz orchestras (both educational and professional). He has curated prestigious monographic tributes dedicated to jazz giants such as Charles Mingus, Gerry Mulligan, Thelonious Monk, Charlie Parker, Henry Mancini, Lee Morgan and Wayne Shorter. 

Tilemachos Moussas is an Athens-based composer, multi-instrumentalist and educator specializing in avant-garde and improvised music. He has collaborated with institutions like IRCAM, Stanford's CCRMA, and the National Opera of Greece, winning the Music Theater Now Award and Be Festival's 1st Prize. He has performed internationally with artists such as Damo Suzuki, Savina Yannatou, and Chico Freeman. 

David Ferreiro holds a Ph.D. in Musicology and a Master's degree in Spanish and Hispano-American Music (Universidad Complutense de Madrid). His research interests center on Spanish music and musicians of the 19th and 20th centuries, including music analysis and theory and repertoire recovery. He currently teaches the course "History and Practice of Jazz Languages." 

Marco Mangani is Associate Professor of Musicology and Music History at the SAGAS Department of the University of Florence. His work spans essays on Renaissance vocal music, 18th-century Italian instrumental music, Gershwin, jazz, and popular music. His research on jazz has included studies on quotation in jazz improvisation, including a co-authored database project presented at the International Conference on Music Perception and Cognition.  

Andreas Prittwitz is a German multi-instrumentalist — saxophonist, clarinetist, and recorder player — based in Spain. Self-taught on clarinet and saxophone, he moved into jazz, folk, and world music improvisation. His project Lookingback (Serondaya Award for Cultural Innovation) explores improvisation across classical, jazz, and early music traditions, and has been presented at venues such as Madrid's Auditorio Nacional and the United Nations headquarters in New York.