Educational Workshops

Throughout his professional career, Jeremy has introduced young learners to jazz and West African music through exciting and informative workshops. He honed his skills as an Artist Diploma candidate at The Juilliard School, developing and leading educational workshops throughout the USA, Central America, and South America. Since his graduation in 2013, Jeremy has shared the joy of music with hundreds of students in independent, public, and charter schools in New York City. Covering a wide range of topics, these workshops not only feature exciting musical performances, but bring the key historical figures and traditions to life. 

About the workshops...

Far from a simple lecture or performance, these workshops are specifically designed to engage students. Filled with a variety of movement, audience participation, and critical thinking, students are actively engaged with the teaching artists throughout. Workshop length is flexible, though typically 45-50 minutes, and programs can be easily adapted to accommodate different age groupings and audience sizes.

Examples of educational workshops include:

• A Jazz Story – A Jazz Story is an interactive musical experience that offers elementary school students an exciting introduction to jazz. During the workshop, students will gain an understanding of the instruments and roles within a jazz group, what makes jazz unique, and how jazz musicians tell stories through their music. The quartet performs a selection of classic jazz repertoire in addition to guiding students through the composition of their own collective piece.

• Roots of Rhythm - Roots of Rhythm explores the lineage of rhythm in American popular music dating back to the birth of jazz music in New Orleans at the turn of the 20th Century. Through interactive clapping, counting, and movement, students are taken on a journey through the history of American music. From early jazz to present day rock, pop, and hip-hop, the common thread is between all styes is rhythm. Students learn the origins of the rhythms we hear in present-day music, what cultures they came from, and how they evolved over the course of history.

• Jazz and the Great Migration – Known as the Great Migration, the mass movement of African-Americans from the rural South to urban centers in the North and West was one of the largest demographic events of the twentieth century. This movement also directly coincides with the birth and development of jazz, and played a crucial part in its rise to become a great American art form. Expanding beyond the beginnings of jazz explored in Roots of Rhythm, this workshop looks at the epicenters of the Great Migration and the unique styles of jazz that were developed there. Exploring the evolution of jazz from the 1920s up to the 1960s, students learn the social significance of how this African-American art from changed from a vaudeville sideshow to a respected art that represents freedom and equality.

• The Rhythm of West Africa - The Music of West Africa introduces students to the rich musical traditions of West Africa. Featuring high energy musical performances, this interactive workshop has students clapping, singing, and dancing, while exploring this sophisticated and beautiful musical culture. Students will gain an understanding of why the rhythm of West African music is so unique, and how it has impacted other musical traditions around the world.

Jeremy has partnered with numerous schools and organizations to bring his unique music workshops to thousands of students in New York City and around the world…

• The Juilliard School (NYC)

• Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jazz for Young People (NYC)

• Young Audiences New York (NYC)

• Midori & Friends (NYC)

• The Chapin School (NYC)

• Nord Anglia International School (NYC)

• The Packer Collegiate Institute (NYC)

• Success Academy Charter Schools (NYC)

• Centro Cultural Costarricense Norteamericano (Costa Rica)

• Centro Cultural Salvadoreño Americano (El Salvador)

• Instituto Guatemalteco Americano (Guatemala)