Jazz Academy of Music, Inc. (JAM), a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, awards both full and partial scholarships to attend its programs to individuals who demonstrate both a financial need and have outstanding musical talent. To apply for a scholarship, complete this Scholarship Application Form and the Teacher’s Recommendation Form. The completed packet forms must be returned by June 15th.  An incomplete application will not be considered for a scholarship.

The awards will go to students ages 8 – 18 with (a) an interest in Jazz, (b) high music potential and (c) the intent of advancing such students’ musical talents and aspirations.

FULL SCHOLARSHIP APPLICATION (PDF)APPLICATION: STUDENT SECTION A (PDF)APPLICATION: PARENT SECTION B (PDF)RECOMMENDATION: TEACHER SECTION C (PDF)

The Chuck Steenburgh Chair in Jazz Trombone is a merit scholarship awarded to a lucky high school jazz trombonist in the DC Metropolitan Area who demonstrates a real passion for the instrument.

 

TROMBONISTS:

Check back for future awards.

AWARD:

Merit Scholarship includes:
  • JAM Band Academic Year, or
  • JAM Camp Tuition

Helping brothers and sisters of the slide bop!

Did you know that the quality of high school jazz in the Greater Washington DC region is impressive?  Yes, and it is on display every February during the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival by local schools entered in the high school jazz band competition as well as those schools featured on the Atrium Stage.  There is, however, one disturbing trend emerging at the Festival that is cause for concern: the limited number of schools able to field a full big band trombone section.  A few schools perform with no low brass, missing a critical part of the big band sonic pallete.

Two years ago, the Jazz Academy of Music started a merit scholarship program exclusively for high school trombonists to address this issue.  The objective of the Chuck Steenburgh Chair in Jazz Trombone is to provide an extra incentive for students to excel on the instrument and to highlight the unique opportunities not available to players of over-subscribed instruments such as saxophone and trumpet.  The inaugural winner of the scholarship won the Best Improvised Solo competition at the Montgomery County Public Schools Big Band Festival and was admitted to the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

 

The winner of the Chuck Steenburgh Scholarship will receive a JP231 Rath Straight Trombone

To sweeten the pot, this year the winner of the Chuck Steenburgh scholarship will receive a JP231 Rath straight trombone to keep after playing with the Orchestra for the year.  The JP231 has received rave reviews, benefiting from a Michael Rath designed leadpipe that makes it as responsive as a professional King 3B costing three times more.  The educational benefits of the scholarship are not likely to be realized immediately, but the ability to pop out high B-flats and Cs with ease likely will be.

The audition materials for the competition are below and include a soli section from Just Friends, a transcribed solo to the chord changes in Doxy, and a Doxy backing track.  Students comfortable with improvising are encouraged to do so in the audition, but students playing off the transcription will not be penalized.  The most critical criteria are the ability to swing and play with feeling.

Want to compete?

Marcel Penzes – The 2018 Chuck Steenburgh Chair in Jazz Trombone

“The Jazz Academy of Music really advanced my knowledge on theory, idiom, and performance of Jazz music from a young age. I remember starting at JAM camp in 2015, the same year I picked up the trombone. I later joined the Jazz Academy Orchestra through acquisition of the Chuck Steenburgh Award in 2017. Paul Carr, director of these programs, is a phenomenal musician and educator. He led me in the right direction throughout my development, and for that I owe him much gratitude. His dedication to education is remarkable.”

Marcel, the inaugural winner of the scholarship won the Best Improvised Solo competition at the Montgomery County Public Schools Big Band Festival and was admitted to the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.

Preparing for the audition:

You will be expected to play two choruses of the transcribed solo (or improvise for two choruses) and play the trombone soli section from “Just Friends.”

Six choruses, ranging from easy to medium to difficult are provided. Choose the two that you can play most musically. Swinging hard on the first, easiest chorus will score higher than merely placing all the right notes at the right time on the last, hardest chorus. Identical .mp4 and .wma audio files contain a rhythm section playing the chord changes to Doxy. This accompaniment will also be available during the audition.

The trombone soli section would be played with 3 or 4 other trombonists in performance so the objective here is to reproduce the written music as accurately as possible. Practicing with a metronome will help and a metronome will also be available during the audition. You should aim for metronome markings between 100 and 130.

Scholarship Application

1

Transcription

Transcribed improvised solo on the changes from Doxy

2 wma mp4

Audio

Identical mp4 and wma audio files with 3 choruses of the Doxy changes

3

Soli

Trombone soli section from “Just Friends.”