Region 15 Music Educators Led Session at International Jazz Conference in NYC

Jim Scianna and Jack Zamary:  Jazz Improvisation in the Elementary School  

Click here for photos of Mrs. Campbell's 5th graders improvising a style of jazz music in Mr. Scianna's class.

 Middlebury Elementary School principal Jack Zamary and Gainfield Elementary School music teacher Jim Scianna presented a clinic, entitled “A Jazz Message” at the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE) Conference in January 2004 in New York City. They were invited to speak at the conference due to their development of a collaborative portfolio linking jazz music with other school disciplines. Before becoming the principal at Middlebury Elementary School, Jack Zamary was the Director of Fine Arts for the Pomperaug Regional School District 15.

 At the conference, Jack Zamary and Jim Scianna presented to over 200 jazz educators and professionals. Their topic, A Jazz Message - Jazz Improvisation in the Elementary School, addressed jazz improvisation lessons, assessments and interdisciplinary activities with a realistic and authentic approach. Mr. Zamary and Mr. Scianna demonstrated examples of jazz improvisation tasks, assessments and samples of benchmarked student work using audio/video recordings from the Region 15 standards-based online music curriculum (www.region15.org/music).

 Over the past eight years, a major goal of Gainfield Elementary School has been to improve music literacy of students and faculty through the study and integration of jazz music. Through the support of principal John Mudry, the Gainfield PTO and the Region 15 Board of Education, the school hosted live performances for students and faculty. These performances led to the development of a collaborative portfolio that successfully implemented jazz with language arts and social studies tasks.

 “IAJE’s interest in having Jack and me present at the conference in New York this year,” said Jim Scianna, “was influenced by the success of this portfolio by since-retired fourth grade teacher Christine Guiditta and me.”

 Approximately 150 performances and clinics on jazz history, improvisation, technology, composition, arranging, performance techniques, and teacher training were presented each day of the IAJE conference. The International Association for Jazz Education has over 8,000 members worldwide in 40 countries. With a mission to ensure the continued growth and development of jazz through education and outreach, the IAJE (www.iaje.org) holds programs that nurture the understanding and appreciation of jazz, provides leadership to educators regarding curriculum and performance, and assists teachers, students, and artists with information and resources. The IAJE Annual Conference, held each January, is acknowledged as the largest annual gathering of the global jazz community.