Tools for Jazz Directors: From Beginning to Advanced Rehearsal Techniques

This NAfME Council for Jazz Education Town Hall will present rehearsal and improvisation tools for jazz ensembles, including beginning to advanced techniques, preparing for a successful rehearsal, and ways to invite students into a collaborative jazz experience. Bring your questions for the panel for the Q&A session toward the end of the evening. We hope you’ll join us to connect with jazz educators of all experience levels from around the country!

Bethany Robinson is a Yamaha Performing Artist, 2022 GRAMMY Music Educator Award Finalist, Chair of the NAfME Council for Jazz Education, President of the Indiana Jazz Educators Association, and serves on the Jazz Education Network Board. She is currently the Director of Jazz at Purdue University after having served as Jazz Director for Noblesville Schools in Noblesville, Indiana, for more than a decade. Under her leadership, the jazz program expanded from one to six bands, and the top jazz ensemble qualified for the Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival in 2021 and 2022, and won a state title in 2023.

Lenora Helm Hammonds is Dean of the Professional Education Division at Berklee College of Music, after teaching for many years at North Carolina Central University (NCUU). Her numerous academic awards include the Mayor’s Award for Promoting International Understanding, a NCCU-Duke Digital Humanities Fellowship, a Lifetime Achievement Award from Marquis Publishing, and NCCU’s Excellence in Teaching Award, to name just a few. An accomplished recording artist, jazz vocalist, vocal coach, composer, lyricist, and bandleader, she has released eight commercial recordings, owns Baoule Works Music Publishing, and has an extensive discography with internationally renowned jazz and contemporary music artists. Her indie jazz record label, Zenzalai Music, was a 2021–2022 Black Independent Music Accelerator (BIMA) recipient.

Jeremy L. George is the Director of Jazz Studies and Assistant Professor of Music Education at Huston-Tillotson University in Austin, Texas. He received his Bachelor of Science in Music Education from Florida Agricultural and Mechanical University in Tallahassee, Florida, his master’s degree and Ph.D. in Music Education from Florida State University. He served as a public school music educator for 10 years and received the Tom Bishop Award by the Florida Bandmasters Association in 2018. He is a freelance bassist in the Austin area.

NAfME presents this live virtual event at no charge to all as a service to the music education profession. To register, you must enter your NAfME member information or create a nonmember account. After registering, check your email for instructions. A recording of this program will be available to all registrants for one week following the live event. Members can also view archived NAfME webinars in the NAfME Academy.

The views expressed are those of the presenter; they do not necessarily reflect the views of NAfME.