Greg S
Instruments: Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet
Styles: Classical, Jazz, Rock, Blues, Funk, Swing, Bossa Nova, Marching Band, Avant-garde
Greg S
Instruments: Saxophone, Flute, Clarinet
Styles:
Classical, Jazz, Rock, Blues, Funk, Swing, Bossa Nova, Marching Band, Avant-garde
Where I Teach:
In Your Home
My Studio
Ages Taught: 10-80
ABOUT
Degrees / Training / Special Info:
1998 - Bachelor of Music, Saxophone Performance, University of California in San Diego 2012 - Master of Music, Saxophone Performance, Queens College
Awards:
1998 - Stewart Prize for Outstanding Performance in the Arts
2012 - Eric Horlick Memorial Scholarship
2015 - Three-week residency at the Banff Centre's Persian and Eastern Traditions World Music Workshop
Overview:
After completing my bachelors degree in 1998 at UC San Diego, where I studied with ground-breaking improvisers George Lewis and Bertram Turetzky I moved to New York City and began teaching privately, as well as performing with a variety of groups, including: the Hungry March Band, the Zagnut Cirkus Orkestar, Ansambl Mastika, Raya Brass Band and Sherita. In 2010 I began working towards a graduate degree at Queens College under the classical saxophone virtuoso Paul Cohen. In addition to helping me improve my facility with the saxophone, Paul helped me develop a solid pedagogy for the instrument. At Queens I also devised a curriculum for the Queens College Balkan Music Ensemble, a group which I founded and directed for one semester before graduating in 2012. Since completing my masters degree, I've continued teaching privately, and performing with my groups, Raya Brass Band and Sherita. I perform around 80 shows a year, both in the New York Area and touring nationally. Venues where I've peformed include: Lincoln Center Out of Doors, Kennedy Center Millenium Stage, Philadelphia Museum of Art, New York Gypsy Festival, Atrium at Lincoln Center, Golden Festival, Joe’s Pub, Le Poisson Rouge, and Webster Hall.
EXPERIENCE
I've taught private lessons in the New York area for 15 years. Over years of touring internationally, I've been involved with running workshops on Eastern European music at festivals and cultural centers. And, while working on my master's degree at Queens College, I founded and directed the Queens College Balkan Music Ensemble, devising a curriculum for students that had no familiarity with Balkan music.
METHODS USED
My teaching emphasizes development of the most important fundamentals of woodwind technique. Using a wide variety of repertoire and exercises, I focus on developing a solid foundation for tone production/intonation, articulation, and digital dexterity. At the same time, I encourage students to explore repertoire and style, both for listening and for performing, to help them find the music they really love. Methods books I use to help develop technique include: Rubank for all woodwinds Deville for saxophone Klose for clarinet Moise for flute Charlie Parker Omnibook for jazz studies Repertoire for performance can include anything the student requests, as well as basic material in a variety of western and eastern styles.
LESSON STYLE
I enjoy when my students show improvement through dedicated practice. I encourage this by setting achievable weekly goals for them. This can be as simple as working through a known exercise at a few metronome clicks faster than the previous lesson, or as complicated as learning a whole song in one or more entirely new keys.
PHOTOS & VIDEOS
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