Interlochen Center for the Arts

Interlochen Arts Academy
Jazz Studies Department
P.O. Box 199
Interlochen, MI   49643
Ph:  (231) 276-7200

Website:  http://www.interlochen.org/academy/


Jazz Director:  Bill Sears, Coordinator of Jazz Studies
http://www.interlochen.org/academy/faculty/music_3?expand=23
Ph:  (231) 276-7894
e-Mail:  searswa@interlochen.org

Saxophonist Bill Sears has served as the director of jazz studies at the Interlochen Arts Academy since 1987.  Sears came to Interlochen from the Chicago area where he led an active career as a freelance musician and teacher at the American Conservatory of Music.  He has toured the U.S. and Europe with the Ray Charles band (1986) and shared the stage with many jazz luminaries including Dizzy Gillespie, Joe Williams, Art Farmer, Geoff Keezer, Rick Margitza, and saxophonist Bill Evans.

As an active performer, Bill has two recent recordings, “Chasin’ The Goal” with Margitza joining his quintet, and “With One Accord”, his latest CD featuring his current 7-piece group, the Arts Center Jazz Collective.  Each CD features his engaging saxophone along with several original compositions.  Showing respect for the heritage of the tenor saxophone, Sears encompasses the entire spectrum of the instrument's tradition, from lush ballads reminiscent of the great swing and bebop masters to the searing intensity of today’s music.  Sears is a performing artist/clinician for the Selmer Corporation in Elkhart, IN.

Faculty:   http://www.interlochen.org/academy/faculty/music_3

Bands:  Jazz Ensemble, Jazz Combo


The 17-member Jazz Ensemble is the flagship performing band in the jazz program.  This stellar unit is considered one of the finest high school jazz ensembles in the country while earning numerous awards, including several “db” awards from Downbeat magazine.  It was chosen as a finalist at the 1998 and 2003 Essentially Ellington Competition held at Lincoln Center.


The Jazz Combo features 6-8 of the more experienced and advanced musicians in the program.  The band provides opportunities for musicians to develop improvisational skills to their highest potential. 

Both bands travel occasionally with recent performances in Arizona, California, New York, Chicago, and throughout Michigan.


Jazz Events:


Profile:
Interlochen Arts Academy, the nation’s first and foremost boarding fine arts high school, unites students with others who value their highest aspirations, creating a close-knit artist community. Four-hundred fifty of the world’s most talented and motivated young artists study music, theatre, dance, visual arts, creative writing and motion picture arts in a college-like setting.  They find in the Academy a fast-paced, creative environment that challenges, inspires and focuses their talents.  While producing more than 250 artistic presentations in the school year, Academy students also master a rigorous college-preparatory academic curriculum that prepares them to take prominent roles in a whole universe of professional endeavors.

• 450+ students
• 300+ faculty and staff
• 40+ states and 15+ countries represented
• 38 Presidential Scholars, more than any other school
• 250+ presentations
• Dozens of guest artist master classes annually
• 1,200-acre wooded campus with educational, recreational and performance facilities

Since 1987 the jazz program has expanded to include two levels of jazz improvisation, a daily jazz history class, and one combo in addition to the award-winning 17-piece jazz ensemble. The department is recognized as one of the top jazz programs in the country.  During the past 15 years it has earned Downbeat magazine's “db” award 11 times.  The jazz ensemble has twice been named a finalist at the Essentially Ellington Competition held at Lincoln Center (1998, 2003). Alumni of the program can be found at all of the top jazz conservatories and universities, and many are leading active professional careers in New York, Chicago, Los Angeles, Boston, Miami and other major cities. 

Famous IAA alumni holding professional jazz credentials include saxophonist Bob Mintzer, composer-pianist-bassist Chris Brubeck, drummer Dan Brubeck, violinist Regina Carter, drummer Peter Erskine, vocalist Cedric Dent, drummer Clarence Penn, trumpeter Byron Stripling, trumpeter Allen Vizzutti, trumpeter Walter White, singer Norah Jones, and
trombonist Bruce Paulson.


News:


Washington, D.C. - President George W. Bush honored recipients of the 2006 National Medal of Arts on Thursday, November 9.  Ten medals were presented by the President and Mrs. Laura Bush in an Oval Office ceremony at the White House.  The National Endowment for the Arts manages the National Medal of Arts nomination process and notified the artists of their selection to receive a medal, the nation's highest honor for artistic excellence.

"These individuals and organizations have all made enduring contributions to the artistic life of our nation," said National Endowment for the Arts Chairman Dana Gioia. "Whether by translating the masterpieces of Latin American literature or bringing genius to the design of everyday objects or simply preserving the great musical heritage of New Orleans, their work has enriched our national culture."

The 2006 National Medal of Arts Recipients:

• William Bolcom, classical composer, Ann Arbor, MI
• Cyd Charisse, dancer, Los Angeles, CA
• Roy R. DeCarava, photographer, Brooklyn, NY
• Wilhelmina Holladay, arts patron, Washington, DC
• Interlochen Center for the Arts, school of fine arts, Interlochen, MI
• Erich Kunzel, conductor, Cincinnati Pops Orchestra, Cincinnati, OH
• Preservation Hall Jazz Band, jazz ensemble, New Orleans, LA
• Gregory Rabassa, literary translator, Brooklyn, NY
• Viktor Schreckengost, industrial designer/sculptor, Cleveland, OH
• Dr. Ralph Stanley, bluegrass musician, Coeburn, VA

 

The National Endowment for the Arts gratefully acknowledges The President's Committee on the Arts and the Humanities for its support of the 2006 National Medal of Arts.

Established by Congress in 1984, the National Medal of Arts is awarded to individuals or groups who, in the President's judgment, are deserving of special recognition for outstanding contributions to the excellence, growth, support and availability of the arts in the United States. Each year, the National Endowment for the Arts receives nominations for the award from across the country. The National Council on the Arts, the Endowment's advisory body, reviews the nominations and provides recommendations to the President, who selects the recipients. The process is secret, and Interlochen was not aware that it was under consideration.

In announcing the selection, the National Endowment for the Arts recognized Interlochen both for the extraordinary contributions the organization has made over its 79-year history and for the dynamic initiatives of the past few years that are keeping Interlochen on the cutting edge of arts education today and into the future.

Founded in 1927 as the National High School Orchestra Camp, the institution soon became known simply as "Interlochen" and quickly increased in scope to include other arts disciplines and programs. From an unlikely location in the woods of northern Michigan emerged a growing cultural and arts community with national influence. Today Interlochen also encompasses the country’s first boarding high school in the arts, a public radio network, a year-round arts festival, an elementary and middle school, and an expanding adult education program. Nearly 90,000 artists have learned and been inspired at Interlochen and hundreds of thousands more are engaged annually.

In a press release statement Interlochen President Jeffrey Kimpton proclaimed, "It is not an overstatement to say that Interlochen has played a key role in the developent of high quality music and art programs in public schools throughout the entire country. In 1928, Interlochen was a pioneer in the area of arts education. Today, the cross-pollination of arts that can only be found here continues to attract some of the most talented and dynamic artists from around the country. After eighty years, we are still on the leading edge of arts education."

Interlochen Center for the Arts continues to innovate to meet the changing needs of the arts community. In 2005, Interlochen established an interdisciplinary high school film program, which draws on the wide range of talent that already exists at Interlochen; theatre students appear in the films; writing students work on screenplays; music students create original scores and visual artists work on the sets. In October, the new film program moved into the new Aaron and Helen L. DeRoy Center for Film studies, a 26,000 square foot facility, which incorporates living space, classrooms, editing rooms and a screening room. It is the only building of its kind in the country, dedicated to teaching the art of film to high school students.

In the last three years, Interlochen has also expanded its offerings for adult education programs. "We are most well-known for inspiring young artists, but adults continue to seek high quality creative opportunities and need the arts just as much as our youth. Our College of Creative Arts gives adults of all ages many opportunities to fine-tune their skills in an arts discipline - or to explore an entirely new one," said Kimpton.  Programs have included guitar, New Horizons band, adult band camp, chamber music, early music, painting, photography and writing seminars. Other programs are continually being added.

Very few arts education organizations have ever been recognized with the National Medal of Arts. Kimpton expressed his hopes that the award will advance opportunities for arts education for everyone. "At this place where art lives so vibrantly, we bring art into the lives of so many people. As we move forward, Interlochen will carry on its tradition of being a leader in the arts by continuing to innovate and promote the availability of arts programs for everyone - at Interlochen and everywhere."