October 6, 2006 Source: :
http://www.mala.ca/media/release.asp?ID=964 New jazz degree program
at Malaspina expands musical
palette Beethoven didn’t blow
the blues. That’s why students seeking contemporary music careers need a degree based
on 20th century North American sounds, not one which dissects baroque
chartbusters. Meeting this need is Malaspina’s new Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies
degree, which opened this fall to an almost-full house. "The demand has been
here for years," said Music Department chair Collin MacQuarrie. "We have
students from all across the country." Enrolment in the Jazz degree program was notably successful for a first year
offering, with 21 of the 30 available seats taken. Filling one of those seats is singer and songwriter Andrea Smith, who moved
from Kamloops to Nanaimo to enrol in Malaspina’s Jazz Diploma program in
2003. She has now expanded her goal from diploma to degree. "It’s given me, performance-wise, an increase in my own skill level," she
explained. Prior to enrolling in the program, she had played in rock and country bands,
done musical theatre, and begun composing. "I’ve always played music, although I didn’t start song-writing until I was
30," she said. She started piano lessons at five. Her mother and grandmother
played piano and a brother played trumpet. Her great-grandfather, Wesley
Llewellyn, played banjo and fiddle on Mississippi riverboats. In addition to performing, Smith tackled many jobs: registered massage
therapist, certified guide-outfitter, and farrier. When the strain on her
hands from massage therapy hampered her guitar playing, Smith chose music
over massage. The launch of the degree program, in development for at least a decade, was
perfectly timed to meet Smith’s desire to hone her talent. "I already had the country-bluesy influence," she said. "I’ve added jazz.
There are harmonies you can build around those notes, different nuances and
timing, depth and breadth of sound. It’s like having more colours in your
palette to paint from." In June 2005, Smith won first place in the song writing category of the
Shuswap Lake International Writers Festival. She was also nominated for the
Yamaha Award of Excellence at the B.C. Festival of the Arts. This past summer she released her second CD, Sweet Embrace, which combines
blues, jazz, country and soft rock sounds. "Occasionally I’m fortunate
enough to do gigs with two of the greatest jazz musicians on the Island, Pat
Coleman and Ken Lister," Smith said. Both are also Malaspina instructors. The Jazz degree program incorporates all forms of popular music, including
blues, country and rock, MacQuarrie said. "When you look at the North
American art form, it’s all intertwined." Students enrolled in the program range in age from recent high school
graduates to retirees pursuing their love of music. "For them, it’s for the
love of it and to learn more about the art form," MacQuarrie said, adding
that there are more career opportunities in popular music than in classical.
For more information on Malaspina’s music programs, visit www.mala.ca. Smith plans to earn her degree and then study to teach music, in addition to
performing and composing. "I’d like to get established artists playing and performing my music," she
said. She is currently promoting her CD and performing with her band, Quench –
including an upcoming show at the Wheatsheaf Pub in Cedar on October 28 –
and learning more about her chosen art form. "This program allows me to work and communicate with people whose level of
musicianship is way beyond mine, so I get to keep learning." -30- For more information contact: Toni O'Keeffe, Director of Communications &
Public Relations. Phone (250) 740-6341; FAX (250) 740-6474; E-mail
okeeffet@mala.bc.ca
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