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BY TIFFANY LIAO

In print | February 15, 2007

The strains of jazz music are growing stronger on the Swarthmore campus due to a number of new opportunities for jazz on campus. Thanks in part to a petition drafted and signed by Jazz Ensemble members, the traditionally classical music department is reforming in response to the growing numbers of jazz music students in recent years.

“Jazz band has been much larger in the past few years than it has ever been and is overwhelmingly freshmen and sophomores,” Jazz Ensemble member Madeleine Case ’09 said.

Also noticeable is the recent upsurge in potential music majors who consider themselves jazz musicians.

Many members of Jazz Ensemble were unhappy that opportunities offered on campus did not reflect the large number of students pursuing jazz and sought reform.

To remedy this situation, in the last weeks of the past semester, Jazz Ensemble member Dan Perelstein ’09 drafted a petition to cultivate the presence of jazz in the “unilaterally classical” curriculum and also in extracurricular activities and campus events.

Although the music department has been open to proposals concerning jazz in the past, Perelstein felt that it was insufficient, especially for students who are not necessarily music students but are interested in jazz.

“There’s a big enough demand for jazz. We shouldn’t have to ask for more classes and more lectures or master classes,” Perelstein said. “Until now, students interested in jazz have had to specifically push for things that they have wanted instead of just being able to sign up for offerings that are already available.”

“We were pushing for a permanent faculty member who focuses on jazz,” Case said. “Also, [we were pushing for] expanding the curriculum to include jazz history and theory and bringing more jazz events to campus.”

After creating the petition, Perelstein asked for print signatures from Jazz Ensemble members. A notice on Reserved Students Digest garnered electronic signatures from students who wanted to see more of jazz on campus.

Perelstein ended up with 58 electronic and 45 print signatures before submitting the petition to Department Chair Gerald Levinson, who received it welcomingly.

“I was happy to find that the music department has been discussing this and regarding this as an pressing issue, which was my goal with the petition,” Perelstein said. “There is still a lot to be done, but the department has increased their consciousness of jazz.”

According to Levinson, the petition highlighted an issue that was already “on the top of [his] priority list.”

“I agree that jazz is important,” Levinson said. “The fact is we’re not a full-fledged music school that can offer complete curriculum in all types of music because we’re too small, but we want to do all we can.”

The combined efforts of the students and music department have already set in motion more opportunities for students interested in jazz.

Levinson attributes the irregular availability of jazz courses to recent faculty changes but said the department is working to change the current state of affairs.

“I’m working to possibly have Jazz History and Jazz Improvisation next year,” Levinson said. “Another change is that jazz students were made aware they could apply for coaching under the Fetter program.”

With the Fetter Chamber Music program, a professional musician coaches a small group of musicians once a week. Previously, only classical musicians took advantage of Fetter. This year, one jazz group, of which Case is a member, has become involved for the first time.

While Case has enjoyed the more intensive music sessions, one drawback is that the program requires all instrumentation be acoustic. Since many jazz guitars and basses are amplified and jazz vocalists use microphones, this has become a problem.

Despite this, Case appreciates the chance “to have individual attention and be creative,” and is optimistic that the acoustic-only rule will be changed once more jazz musicians join the program.

Another issue possibly being improved is the lack of jazz-based assessment for “jury” students who take private music classes as part of the class Music 48. Perelstein has been trying to get a jazz authority, such as Jazz Ensemble Director Drew Shanefield, to be more involved with the jury, “so that it didn’t seem like I was teaching them about jazz instead of the other way around,” he said.

“Those sessions have been helpful for classical students but not very important for jazz students,” Perelstein said. “One comment I got was, ‘It sounds like you know what you are doing,’ which doesn’t sound like what my teacher should be saying to me.”

Levinson acknowledged this. “If we have a substantial number of students taking lessons in jazz, we want to have someone in the jury with an expertise in jazz,” he said. Levinson also urged students to take initiative when it comes to effecting desired changes in the music program.

“There are substantial funding opportunities here, such as the Cooper program. There just has to be someone with enough interest in it to make a proposal,” Levinson said.

Jazz opportunities are still being created. But as Case said, “this is a big step, and we appreciate that [jazz] is an issue for them.”

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