SAXOPHONE
STUDY
at the
University of
Washington
School of
Music
Michael S. Brockman, Faculty
o Private studio instruction in classical and jazz
saxophone
o Alto, Tenor, Soprano, and Baritone
o Saxophone Quartet
o Studio Jazz Ensemble
o Modern Band (avant-garde jazz)
o UW Wind Ensemble
o Jazz Combos 1-6
o University Symphonic Band, Concert Band
o Training in arranging and writing for saxophone
and more!
Saxophonists can find outstanding
opportunities to develop their professional careers at the UW School of Music.
The UW saxophone studio is a select group of dedicated musicians who work
together to share ideas and to challenge one another, building their individual
talents as soloists, ensemble players, and leaders.
Saxophone students at UW are trained to
perform in classical, jazz, and modern performance styles. They graduate with
the technique, flexibility, and musical depth to pursue any musical goal of
their choosing. Alumni of the UW saxophone studio are currently performing
throughout the U.S. in jazz groups, rock bands, symphonic and chamber groups,
and as classical recitalists. Many have also built active teaching careers in
public schools, as private studio instructors, as writers/arrangers, as
conductors, and as recording studio engineers.
Degrees offered for saxophonists at the UW
School of Music include the Bachelor of Music (classical performance or jazz
studies), the Bachelor of Arts (weighted toward liberal arts studies), the
Master of Music (weighted toward classical music), and the Doctor of Musical
Arts (weighted toward classical music)
Solo concert literature is strongly
emphasized in the UW sax studio for classical performance majors. It is
included to a lesser degree in the program of study for jazz studies majors as
a solid means of building excellent technical control over all ranges of the
instrument. Students are prepared in traditional French and American concert
repertoire, plus 20th and 21st-century works employing contemporary techniques
such as multiphonics, quarter-tones,
and altissimo register notes.
Jazz Saxophonists have opportunities to
build their skills as improvisers both in private instruction with Michael
Brockman, and through a two-year sequence of jazz improvisation classes.
Courses in arranging, composition, conducting, and MIDI techniques are also
offered, and highly recommended, for the musician who wants to open the
greatest number of opportunities in his/her professional life.
Alto, tenor, soprano, and baritone saxophone
are all taught in the studio, and ensemble opportunities are numerous for each.
Students are required to become proficient on both the alto and the tenor, and
should plan to own both instruments before their final year. Students are also
required to become proficient on the clarinet, and flute.
Brockman works at times as a professional
composer and arranger. While these are not considered a traditional part of
saxophone instruction, a substantial amount of time is spent (over the course
of a degree program) introducing students to writing for the saxophone and
other instruments in both jazz and contemporary/modern genres. Many UW
saxophone students have discovered that they have hidden skills in writing
music that can help them achieve their career goals.
AUDITIONS
Admission to a degree program or to private
saxophone instruction in the School of Music is by audition. The number of open slots for new saxophone
students is limited, and competition is traditionally very high to get into the
program. It is recommended that you contact Professor Brockman by email during
the fall term, one full year prior to the term you wish to begin study at
the UW, to inform him of your intent to apply, and to confer about audition
pieces you will play.
All applicants are encouraged to provide
Professor Brockman with a resume (REQUIRED for all graduate applicants) listing
your musical activities, professional accomplishments, recordings, and
significant performances. Be sure to
include any non-saxophone related activities, such compositions you have
written, conducting activities, travels, and any other things you feel make you
an interesting person.
Auditions last less than 15 minutes per
students, and this is not a very long time for our faculty to evaluate all
aspects of a person's playing abilities and musicianship. You are therefore
encouraged to submit to professor Brockman a CD record or 2-3 MP3 files
demonstrating other aspects of your musicianship. You can submit recordings you
have made with special ensembles, pieces you have written, musical genres that
aren't being included in your audition (such as rock or folk), performances on
other members of the saxophone family, etc.
AUDITION REQUIREMENTS:
CLASSICAL SAXOPHONE
If you are an auditioning high school saxophonist, you must prepare
the chromatic scale and all 12 major scales and 12 melodic minor scales
(extended through the ENTIRE range of your instrument) plus 3-4 movements
selected from a solo sonata or concerto written for saxophone (with piano
accompaniment). Excellent examples of literature appropriate for undergraduate
auditions include the Creston Sonata, the Bernard Heiden
Sonata, the Villa Lobos Fantasia, the Tcherepnine
Sonata Sportive, the Maurice Tableaux de Provence, and the
piano/sax reductions of the Ibert Concertino da Camera, the Glazounov Concerto,
and the Dubois Concerto. You may
also be asked to sight read some music that tests your ability to read
arpeggios, rhythms and accidentals.
If you are an auditioning for entrance as a graduate student, you must prepare 2 or
more complete sonatas or concertos, plus a contrasting work showing added
versatility. You must also submit a
complete repertoire list of all works performed in concert. Standard pieces that are played by
underclassmen (such as the Ibert, Creston and Glazounov) can be acceptable for
auditions into a graduate performance program, but it is recommended that you
choose pieces that are more challenging and show advanced training in technique
and phrasing, as well as some extended techniques (such as altissimo, multiphonics, microtones, mixed meters, etc.).
AUDTITION REQUIREMENTS:
JAZZ SAXOPHONE
Undergraduate applicants to the Jazz Studies
degree should come prepared to perform three contrasting jazz pieces from
memory, demonstrating interpretive and improvisatory skills. You should play
the melody, and then improvise a solo for 3-4 choruses over the chord changes.
The three pieces should be 1) a jazz standard in swing time, 2) a blues, and 3)
a ballad. To play these three pieces, you should bring some play-along CDs with
you. We will provide a stereo sound
system with CD player. Of course, if you want to bring along a rhythm section
to accompany you in place of the CDs, that is an option, and it may help you to
play a better audition. Excellent jazz
pieces for auditions include Just Friends, Oleo, On Green
Dolphin Street, I Can't Get Started, Have You Met Miss Jones,
Body and Soul, Lover Man, Cherokee, All the Things You
Are, and Invitation.
Alternatively, you can play two jazz tunes
plus a transcription of an improvised jazz solo recorded by a major artist.
Bring in a transcription that you have done of a solo that was recorded by a
jazz master, providing us 4-5 copies of the written solo, and then play the
solo note-for-note along with the original CD recording. Transcription must be done by the individual
student applicant, and not taken from a commercially published book or other
source.
Be prepared to sight read some music that we
will choose, and be prepared to play your chromatic scale and all 12 major
scales and 12 melodic minor scales (extended through the ENTIRE range of your
instrument).
Graduate student applicants: The UW jazz studies Masters degree program
emphasizes both performance and composition.
You should include in your audition pieces that demonstrate your
advanced skills as an improviser and as a writer.
FOR THOSE WHO PLAY BOTH CLASSICAL AND
JAZZ
Applicants can audition on saxophone for
entrance into both the jazz studies program and the classical performance
program. This requires two separate auditions.
If you gain admission into both programs, then you will have to choose
one as your main area of focus for your degree.
You cannot officially remain a candidate in both degree programs
(however, you can switch between them in a later year, if you change your
mind). Regardless of which degree you are earning, you are always free to
audition for, and participate in any ensemble within the school, and you are
encouraged to study both jazz and classical techniques on the saxophone
throughout your degree program.
Admission into either the jazz or classical
saxophone program is highly competitive--neither one is easier to get into than
the other. So, you should initially
focus your attention on playing your very best audition in the style that
represents your best skills. Only if you
feel you are equally accomplished in both jazz and classical should you sign up
to audition for both areas.
A recommended path for the person with
skills in both areas is to play a live audition in your STRONGEST style, and
then leave a recording with Professor Brockman showing your skills in the other
area. This may give you the advantage of
having your broader skills considered in your admissions evaluation.
ADVICE FOR APPLICANTS IN MUSIC ED
(Bachelor Degree Level)
If you are a saxophonist and want to pursue
a Bachelor of Music Education, or any of the other non-performance degrees at
the UW School of Music, then your entrance audition will normally be in the
area of classical saxophone.
If your strongest skills are in jazz music,
you should play two separate auditions: one for jazz and one for classical. The
reason for this is that there are an equal number the spots for jazz saxophone
students and classical saxophone students, but the Jazz Studies Division tries
only to admit students who will be Jazz Studies Majors (that is, students
pursuing an actual jazz studies degree). In the classical woodwinds division,
they admit a student for any of the degree programs (performance, music ed, ethnomusicology, composition) based on how well the
student auditions. However, you must have advanced skills in classical
saxophone in order to compete for one of those spots.
SCHOLARSHIPS
School of Music Scholarship auditions take place each
January at the UW School of Music. Both classical and jazz saxophonists have
received excellent awards of scholarship assistance in recent years. Awards are
made on the basis of talent, with consideration given to the current personnel
needs of the UW Wind Ensemble and Studio Jazz Ensemble. Instrumental music scholarships are awarded based on the quality of the
audition you play at the January/February auditions here on the UW campus, and
most students get under $1000 per year, but some get much more.
GRADUATE TEACHING ASSISTANTSHIPS
The UW does not currently have any graduate teaching
assistantships in the applied saxophone program, though some do exist in the
Jazz Studies program, and inquiries regarding this should be made directly to
the department chair of the Jazz Studies Division.
OUT-OF-STATE TUITION WAIVERS
Waivers of out-of-state tuition are possible, but they are not
easy to get--and the normally go to people who play exceptional auditions and
have qualified for large scholarships of around $3000 as well. You may
well be among those people, but you must play a very high level audition.
ABOUT MICHAEL BROCKMAN
Michael Brockman is an active classical
recitalist and professional jazz performer in Seattle. He holds a Doctor or
Musical Arts from the UW, a Master of Music with Distinction from the New
England Conservatory, and received undergraduate training at the Berklee College of Music (jazz studies), the Musikhochschule Koln in Cologne, West Germany
(composition), and Lewis and Clark College in Portland, Oregon (classical
studies). He has premiered large solo works by David Arends,
Walter Hartley, James Beale, Richard Karpen, Gilbert
Seeley and Susan Calkins, and presented West coast premieres of works by
Gunther Schuller and David Maslanka.
He has also composed and premiered several of his own solo works for saxophone.
Brockman is the co-director of the
award-winning Seattle Repertory Jazz Orchestra (named "Northwest Best
Acoustic Jazz Ensemble" in 2005) which is widely
acclaimed for its authentic performances of rare and often unpublished works by
jazz music's greatest composers, including the annual performance of the Duke
Ellington Sacred Concerts (now in its 21st year). Brockman can be heard as a
soloist and section leader on the SRJO compact discs "SRJO Live"
released in June 2002 (Origin Records 82399), ),
"The Endless Search" released in 2010 (Origin Records 82565),
"Kansas City Suite" released Novemebr 2014,
and "Sacred Music of Duke Ellington" released in December 2005 (Origin
Records 82456). Much of the repertoire for this ensemble must
be transcribed by Michael Brockman from original recordings. Brockman
has specialized in the study of early jazz works for over 20 years.
Brockman appears regularly in Seattle with his
own jazz quartet, and with the Clarence Acox Sextet,
which received awards for the 1992 Best Acoustic Jazz Group, and the 1992 Best
NW Recording from Seattle's Earshot Jazz Magazine. He has also performed as
saxophone soloist with the Seattle Symphony Orchestra and the Pacific Northwest
Ballet, and can be heard on CD recordings with the Seattle Symphony (Shostakovich
AR 037-2) and seen television film documentaries with the Seattle Symphony. He is featured on two Clarence Acox Sextet CDs, titled Joanna's Dance (1991) and
Indigenous Groove (1992), on the RSA Big Band CD released in 1991 titled The
Suspect, and the Centaur recording Composers in the Computer Age. He is also
heard as the soprano saxophone soloist on the MGM film "Zeus and
Amanda."
Brockman has been a featured soloist in the
Dubrovnik Music Festival, the Reims Music festival, the Seattle Creative Music
Series, the Stanford Computer Music Festival, the Bellevue Jazz Festival, the
Gig Harbor Jazz Festival, and the 10th World Saxophone Congress. In 1998 he
made a four-nation tour of Europe as soprano saxophone soloist with the
internationally acclaimed Oregon Repertory Singers.
While on the East coast, he was a member of
the George Russell Big Band, and the renowned Medium Rare Big Band of Boston.
He has performed with the Bolshoi Ballet, and with jazz greats Clark Terry,
James Moody, Quincy Jones, Jimmy Heath, Frank Foster, Frank Wess,
and Arturo Sandoval, pianist/singer Harry Connick,
Jr., jazz pianist Jaki Byard,
singers Joe Williams, Ella Fitzgerald, John Hendricks,
Ernestine Anderson, Diane Shuur, the Temptations, the
Four Tops, and the O'Jays.
Brockman the faculty
member at the University of Washington in 1987. He instructs concert and jazz saxophone, jazz
arranging and composition, improvisation, and ensembles. He studied saxophone
and clarinet performance with Joseph Allard in Boston and New York, with Joe
Viola and George Garzone at Berklee,
and Jerry D. Luedders in Oregon. From 1982-87 he was
Director of Jazz Studies/Professor of Saxophone at Shenandoah University in
Virginia. Dr. Brockman is a soloist/clinician for the Selmer Company.
PUBLISHED INTERVIEWS AND ARTICLES
Several lengthy interviews and articles
about Michael Brockman have been published in recent years:
-Saxophone Journal (Sept 1999) Cover Story
"Michael Brockman" (by Dr. Boyd Phelps)
-Jazz Steps Magazine (Sept 2002)
"Michael Brockman: SRJO Director a Study in Saxophonesque"
Part I (by Norm Bobrow)
-Jazz Steps Magazine (Oct 2002)
"Michael Brockman: SRJO Director a Study in Saxophonesque"
Part II (by Norm Bobrow)
-Earshot Magainzine
(Sept. 2002) "The Great American Orchestra" (by Todd Matthews)
-"An Interview with Seattle Repertory
Jazz Orchestra's Michael Brockman" (by Todd Matthews, Sept 2002) available
online at http://www.wahmee.com/brockman.html
INFORMATION/APPLICATION
For further information about admission and
scholarships, or to obtain application materials, contact:
Office of Undergraduate and Graduate
Advising
School of Music Box
353450
University of Washington
Seattle, WA 98195
Telephone (206) 543-1239
GUEST APPEARANCES
The UW School of Music is happy to make
available Mr. Brockman's services to your school as a clinician, adjudicator,
and performer:
- Saxophone Soloist with Concert Band
- Saxophone Soloist with Orchestra
- Jazz Soloist with Jazz Ensemble
- Michael Brockman/Lisa Bergman Duo in
concert
- Saxophone Master Classes and Clinics (to
discuss reeds, equipment, practice techniques, proper playing)
- Jazz Improvisation Clinics (a hands-on
approach)
- Jazz Ensemble Rehearsal/Clinics (to help
your band get ready for a special concert, or gear-up for a festival)
Repertoire
- with concert
band: Maslanka Concerto; Dahl Concerto; Husa Concerto; Benson Aeolian Song; Jager
Concerto
- with orchestra:
Dubois Concerto; Ibert Concertino da Camera (for chamber orchestra or larger);
Glazounov Concerto; Villa Lobos Fantasia (for strings, 3 horns and percussion)
- with jazz ensemble:
select from 15 pieces collected to feature Brockman (including Lush Life, Mellotone, New Blues, and others) or any piece currently
being prepared by your big band or combo.
To arrange a clinic or performance in
your school, call Michael Brockman directly at the UW School of Music:
Tel: 206-616-6209
Fax: 206-685-9499
email: brockman@u.washington.edu