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Event Type Description
Each week we upload a free Mini-Lesson to our YouTube channel featuring one of our Presenting Artists.
Topic
Reusing Themes Throughout A Piece
Description
Grammy-nominated composer, drummer, and bandleader John Hollenbeck discusses how reusing a theme throughout a composition makes the music cohesive, unified, and organic, using his piece "Cool Code."
About the Presenting Artists(s)
Genre-crossing composer/percussionist John Hollenbeck is renowned in jazz and new music circles for his genre-defying work with The Claudia Quintet, GEORGE, and the ambitious John Hollenbeck Large Ensemble. His music blends jazz, world traditions, and contemporary composition with spiritual depth and accessibility. He has received six GRAMMY nominations, including for his albums Songs You Like a Lot, All Can Work, A Blessing, and eternal interlude; his composition “Falling Men”; and his arrangement of Jimmy Webb’s “The Moon’s a Harsh Mistress.” Hollenbeck has collaborated with Bob Brookmeyer, Fred Hersch, Meredith Monk, Ensemble Cairn, and more. Notable honors include a Guggenheim Fellowship, ASCAP Jazz Vanguard Award, and Doris Duke Performing Artist Award. His commissions include Bang on a Can All-Stars, Orchestre National de Jazz, and Frankfurt Radio Big Band. Hollenbeck taught in Berlin (2005–2016) and joined McGill’s Schulich School of Music in 2015.
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