Approaching Ellington
Workshop Organizer
Jake Sturtevant (Bonny Eagle High School Music & MAAI music.beband@gmail.com
Roundtable Pannel:
Tom Lizotte- Cape Elizabeth-HS tlizotte@capeelizabethschools.org
Chris Oberholtzer-USM chris.oberholtzer@maine.edu
Mike Sakash- Fryburg Academy msakash@fairpoint.net
Craig Skeffington- South Portland HS skefficr@spsd.org
Terry White- Composer/Arranger/Educator twhite1@maine.rr.com
Approaching Ellington Workshop Description:
Edward Kennedy “Duke” Ellington is known to many musicians as one of the most influential of all Jazz musicians walk our Earth. This session will be a round table discussion about how to approaching teaching about Ellington and how to approach his rich library of music. The session was inspired by a week long teachers seminar on Ellington conducted through the National Endowment of the Humanities in Fairfield CT. The discussion will be focused on how to approach teaching about Ellington in all grade levels K-12, and many of the round table participants will discuss their approaches to teaching Ellington repertoire in a performance ensembles. Resources and level appropriate repertoire will be suggested. The conversation will be moderated by Jake Sturtevant, and the round table will include: Tom Lizotte, Chris Oberholtzer, Mike Sakash, Craig Skeffington, and Terry White.
Agenda:
Workshop Overview & Introductions
Ellington the Man (cross curricular)
Ellington the Composer
Ellington the Bandleader
Preaparing and Approaching Ellington: Beginner through Advanced
Questions
Conclusion & Feedback
Inspired by a Teacher Seminar through National Endowment for the Humanities at Fairfield University called Duke Ellington and American Popular Culture