Jazz Studies Overview
San Diego State University has long had one of the premier jazz studies programs in the United States and regularly attracts the finest talent from the U.S. and abroad. The program offers both undergraduate and graduate degrees in jazz studies. Brian Levy is the Jazz Studies Program Director with an extremely talented and accomplished faculty including Bill Yeager, Richard Thompson, Karl Soukup, Anthony Smith, Christopher Hollyday, Luca Alemanno, and more.
With a mission of providing the highest quality musical education and to making a substantial contribution to the cultural life of its region and the world, the program strives to reinforce the integral value of music in society. The jazz studies program is committed to turning out students who are competent, passionate, highly motivated and willing to take risks. From education to research, from performance to composition, students can create strong individual profiles to enhance their musical development. Through immersion in an environment of rigorous teaching, open inquiry, and deep exploration, students are encouraged to create works, performances, and ideas that have yet to be imagined. At the International Association of Jazz Educators Convention, famed jazz critic Leonard Feather described the SDSU Jazz Ensemble #1’s bristling set as a yardstick to measure college jazz bands.
The SDSU Jazz Studies Program has recently released its new CD, Thought Trains on ACM Records and received a Grammy nomination. The program has recorded four other CD’s that have received rave reviews. Don’t Make Noise on Discovery Records was also a Grammy nominee, Live at Montreux, with guest artist Clark Terry, chronicles the band’s performance/TV broadcast at the legendary Swiss Jazz Festival. The European press writes: The most beautiful moment of the evening came when the magnificent, tight swing playing of the SDSU band accompanied one of the masters of the trumpet and flugelhorn.. Other CD’s include Three Steps Ahead and Where’s My Hasenpfeffer? on Seabreeze Vista Records.
The Jazz Ensemble #1 has recently been featured at the Hawaii International Jazz Festival, Ensenada Jazz Festival, the Coronado Jazz Festival, the IAJE convention, the CMEA/CAJ convention, and the CIPJ convention (held at SDSU). SDSU’s Jazz Ensemble #1 has performed with such legendary jazz musicians as George Shearing, Dizzy Gillespie, Diane Schuur, Rob McConnell, Charles McPherson, Conte Candoli, Pete Christlieb, Bobby Shew, Lanny Morgan, Mundell Lowe, Don Menza, Marv Stamm, Bud Shank, Gabe Baltizar, Tiger Okoshi, Gary Foster, Kim Richmond, George Roberts, Holly Hofmann, Ernie Watts, Dave Friesen, Ed Shaughnessey, James Moody, and Barney Kessel, to name only a few. As winners of the National Collegiate Jazz Competition, the band was invited to perform at Epcot Center in Orlando, Florida with Wynton Marsalis, Pete Fountain and Louie Bellson. SDSU student jazz groups have toured throughout Europe, Taiwan, Bolivia, Costa Rica, and Mexico.
Additional Resources
- Karl Soukup, Interim Director of Jazz Studies
- Derek Cannon, Studio Faculty - Jazz Trumpet
- Kevin Delgado, Associate Professor of Music, Latin Jazz Ensemble director, Latin Percussion
- Kevin Esposito, Studio Faculty - Jazz Trombone
- Christopher Hollyday, Studio Faculty - Jazz Saxophone
- Tim McMahon, Studio Faculty - Jazz Drumset
- Anthony Smith, Studio Faculty - Jazz Vibraphone
- Richard Thompson, Associate Professor of Music Jazz History, Piano
- John Wilds, Studio Faculty - Lead and Classical Trumpet
- David Whitman, Studio Faculty - Jazz Vibraphone
- Bill Yeager, Emeritus Professor of Music
Audition Requirements:
Undergraduate deadline to turn in materials is February 15. The Graduate Deadline to turn in materials is also February 15.
**All printed materials (scores, music excerpts, recommendations, and grade transcripts etc.) need to be submitted via PDF format, all audio recordings need to be submitted via a link to BandCamp, SoundCloud, DropBox, Drive, YouTube, etc.**
- Reproduce four one-page music excerpts with professional notation software, to demonstrate your notation abilities. (Please send an email to [email protected] to request excerpts and instructions.)
- Performance audition: we want to hear you play to get a sense of your musicality. Do not sign up for a live audition. Instead, please record a short video of you performing, and provide a link to the performance via YouTube. Instruments may include traditional classical instruments such as clarinet as well as other cultures: tabla, berimbau, dumbek etc., and pop instruments such as turntables, electric guitar, laptop etc. Repertoire can be anything: original, improvised, scored, cover, in any genre.
- Three letters of recommendation from qualified professionals.
- Unofficial grade transcripts from past 4 years of education.
- Statement of purpose - a 2-3 page essay on your musical vision, life and career goals and preparations.
- A written statement on your music-reading ability.
- A statement on the technical, software, hardware and recording equipment and software used to create your composition portfolio.
- Audio recordings, and printed scores (if available) of 2 - 4 original works. (printed scores are not required, but highly recommended)
The major is extremely competitive - compile your materials as if this was the ultimate dream job. They should be excellent and professional and demonstrate your interest and respect.
Summer preparatory projects:
If you are accepted you will be required to complete 3 preparatory projects in the summer before school starts:
- You will be given a list of classical and world masterpieces to become intimately familiar with—you will need to put these on your iPod and listen to them everyday.
- You will need to learn to write a 2 Part Invention in the style of Bach (You can buy Kent Kennan’s Counterpoint book to guide you);
- You will need to complete the Eastman School of Music E-Music “Music Theory Fundamentals in 4 Weeks” course
All composition majors are expected to maintain at least a 3.75 GPA This major prepares students to have a good chance of success, whether in the best graduate programs or in the music industry.
The electronic music studio is a continually upgraded, full-featured facility for the study of sound design, audio production and integration with video. All workstations are Macintosh powered and feature Pro-Tools capability.
Design Philosophy: provide students access to a pro-level facility for composition, recording and sound design with up-to-date and state-of-the-art hardware and software. The studio is available for students enrolled in the electro-acoustic composition course sequence.
Facility Description: The studio contains 4 workstations, and is connected to an isolation booth with studio drum kit, and a main recording room with Steinway 7 ft. grand piano and Internet2 high speed internet gateway for simultaneous distributed recording sessions and performances. Workstation details.
- Applied Musicianship
Students will develop advanced professional competency in applied musicianship through written music theory, musical analysis, conducting, singing, and piano skills. - Aural Perception
Students will display deep proficiency in aural musicianship skills including the ability to transcribe melodies, transcribe rhythms, transcribe harmonic progressions, and to demonstrate proficiency in singing musical examples, patterns, and rhythms of advanced difficulty. - Music Technology
Students will apply, and demonstrate proficiency in current and emerging technologies used in the process of creating, analyzing, performing, and reproducing music and in reviewing or carrying out music research. - Music Literacy and Critical Thinking
Students will gain literacy and critical thinking skills by examining music literature and music research through performing, reading, researching, writing, listening, speaking, and reasoning about music. Critical thinking comprises the integration of historical and theoretical domains to identify and to solve problems within and beyond the discipline of music. - Historical and Cultural Foundations
Students will develop the capacity to situate contemporary musical experiences by interpreting a broad range of musical styles and practices from different historical eras and cultural traditions. - Performance and Creativity
Students on a performance track will perform on a primary instrument and will exemplify a high level of competence, both artistically and creatively. A similar level of artistry and creativity extends to those pursuing one of the non-performance tracks (e.g., the creation of music through our Global Composition track or other skills associated with one of our Professional Studies specializations). - Musical Leadership and Community Engagement
Students will exemplify musical competency through rehearsing and conducting SDSU ensembles, community ensembles, or public-school ensembles. Students will employ musical leadership in their participation in music organizations and through performances organized to engage the community. - Pedagogy
Students will assemble knowledge of curriculum development while also developing oral and written communication skills in order to effectively disseminate information, in a classroom setting, through various methodologies. - Synthesis
By the conclusion of undergraduate study in music, students will be able to solve musical problems by combining their capabilities associated with the learning outcomes enumerated above as appropriate to their respective area(s) of emphasis. - General Skills
All music students will hone the ability to collaborate effectively to engage in real-world problems, including academic, personal, and artistic matters. They will become independent learners, capable of accepting validation as a result of successful efforts while maintaining resilience in the face of challenges.
- Applied Musicianship
Students will develop advanced professional competency in applied musicianship across various jazz subgenres through written music theory, musical analysis, large jazz ensemble and small jazz combo performance, and advanced applied studies with their respective instrument, including improvisation and compositional studies. - Music Technology
Students will apply and demonstrate proficiency in current and emerging technologies used in the process of carrying out jazz music research, analysis, performance, and composition. - Music Research
Students will apply and demonstrate proficiency in musical research through critical writing projects, presentations, and readings of historical and cultural significance, with emphasis on the jazz idiom. - Music Literacy and Critical Thinking
Students will gain advanced literacy and critical thinking skills by examining jazz-oriented music literature and music research through performing, reading, researching, writing, listening, speaking, and reasoning about music. Critical thinking comprises the integration of historical and theoretical domains to identify and solve problems within the discipline of music. - Historical and Cultural Foundations
Students will develop the capacity to situate contemporary musical experiences by interpreting a broad range of musical styles and practices from relevant historical jazz eras and cultural traditions; students will also gain a personal understanding and appreciation of the jazz art form—its unique historical and cultural significance—which they can apply to their musical journey, both within and beyond the university setting. - Performance and Creativity
Students on the performance track will perform on a primary instrument and will exemplify an advanced level of competence—artistically, technically, and creatively. in addition, students will demonstrate the ability to arrange and compose music within the jazz tradition, while developing a personal voice both conceptually and improvisationally. - Musical Leadership and Community Engagement
Students will exemplify musical competency through rehearsing in SDSU jazz ensembles, community ensembles, or public-school ensembles. Students will employ musical leadership in their participation in music organizations and through performances organized to engage the community. - Pedagogy
Students will assemble knowledge of jazz curriculum development while also developing oral and written communication skills in order to effectively disseminate information, in a classroom and studio setting, through various methodologies. - Synthesis
By the conclusion of graduate study in jazz music performance, students will be able to solve advanced musical problems by combining their capabilities associated with the learning outcomes enumerated above as appropriate to their respective area of emphasis. - General Skills
All music students will hone the ability to collaborate effectively to engage in real-world problems, including academic, personal, and artistic matters. They will become independent learners, capable of accepting validation as a result of successful efforts while maintaining resilience in the face of challenges.
