Maine Motif Issue 3, Vol. II (Spring 2018) | Page 20

A Sense of Community Among my most valued experiences in college was the sense of community we felt as students of jazz. Spontaneous jam sessions, one-upping each other with amazing moments in our favorite recordings, and passionate debates over where this music should go next, cemented life-long friendships. One of my earliest goals in teaching was to establish a similar culture of collective curiosity and exploration among my students. Turns out the students who responded to me for this article were unanimous in naming community and relationships paramount to not only the success of the program, but the nourishment they gained from it. Aspiring journalist Ryan McNamara (‘10) proclaims, “The program created such a strong community that my fellow musicians became my best friends regardless of age, defying typical high school allegiance to one’s grade-mates. A trumpet player four years older and a guitar player three years younger were among my best friends.” Several students echoed that sentiment including Bard College saxophonist Alden Slack (‘14) who remarked, “Schumacher is the only instructor I’ve had whose homework assignment might be ‘hang out with your band mates’. The result; more productive and