With our world-class faculty, award-winning student ensembles, and state-of-the-art facilities, you’ll find everything you need here at Lamont to prepare you for a career in jazz. Our faculty is made up of dedicated artist-teachers who will help you develop a strong jazz vocabulary and entrepreneurial spirit while you learn the basics of performing, writing and arranging.
As a jazz major you’ll participate in at least two ensembles every quarter, including the Lamont Jazz Orchestra and Small Groups. Lamont limits enrollment to 300 students, so you’ll enjoy small class sizes with plenty of personal attention. You’ll also learn from the amazing guest artists we bring in for master classes and performances; recent guests have included Ben Wendel, Bob Sheppard, Pat Metheny, Bob Mintzer, and Wayne Bergeron.
Audition Repertoire Requirements
Jazz Performance: All Programs
Prepare three pieces that you feel best exemplify your talent. You’re encouraged to choose contrasting pieces from the standard canon of jazz tunes, in which you perform the melody and then improvise. We're looking for performances that demonstrate musicality, technical skill and an understanding of standard chord progressions, e.g. blues form, chord scales, two five ones, etc.
Audition requirements are the same for all instruments as well as voice.
Minor
Prepare one piece that you feel best exemplifies your talent. You’re encouraged to choose contrasting pieces from the standard canon of jazz tunes, in which you perform the melody and then improvise.
Jazz Composition and Arranging
- Submit musical scores of at least two contrasting works. These should be uploaded through the online application and also sent to Dave Hanson at David.Hanson@du.edu.
- Submit corresponding recordings of your scores, and any additional works you'd like to share. You may either submit the audio files or link to them on YouTube, Soundcloud, Google Drive, etc.
- Audition on your primary instrument or voice with three pieces that you feel best exemplify your talent. You’re encouraged to choose contrasting pieces from the standard canon of jazz tunes, in which you perform the melody and then improvise. We're looking for performances that demonstrate musicality, technical skill and an understanding of standard chord progressions, e.g. blues form, chord scales, two five ones, etc.
Faculty
Mike Abbott
Adjunct Faculty, Guitar
Eduardo "Bijoux" Barbosa
Adjunct Faculty, Guitar
Art Bouton
Jazz Studies Chair & Professor, Saxophone
Eric Gunnison
Adjunct Faculty, Piano
