Artistic Director Marc Hoffman fills a gap in area music education.

January 19, 2011 (SALISBURY, NC) – Beginning in February, the Salisbury School of Music in downtown Salisbury will begin enrolling students in its new Jazz Improvisation and Jazz Theory classes for the Winter/Spring 2011 semester.

“More so than in any other forms of music, jazz encourages and even depends on improv because no two jazz musicians are going to play a song the same way,” said the school’s founder and artistic director, Marc Hoffman, who will teach both classes. “And of all the musical education available in the Salisbury area, including our own school’s, jazz improv and jazz theory have been woefully missing. It’s time we change that.”

Hoffman, who released his own all-original jazz compilation CD “Curioso” last year, also pointed out that a firm grounding in music theory is the backbone of jazz improvisation.

“We’re confident that interest in and turnout for the classes will be sufficient to start a student jazz band at the school. We have been encouraged by the success of our Summer Band Jam that we began last June. The band that formed from the camp has performed many times and just completed recording of its first EP.”

A study conducted at Johns Hopkins in 2008 found that when jazz musicians improvise, they enter “a remarkable frame of mind, during which, all of a sudden, the musician is generating music that has never been heard, thought, practiced or played before. What comes out is completely spontaneous.” (Dr. Charles J. Limb, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.”

“Learning how to improv with jazz can take a music student to a level of creativity he or she has never experienced before,” Hoffman said.

The Salisbury School of Music Jazz Improv and Theory classes will begin in February. Class times will be determined after registration.

The music school in Salisbury is also now registering students now for:

• Shared and private violin instruction (Monday afternoon and evening)
• Shared and private guitar lessons (Monday and Thursday afternoon and evening). Styles include rock, pop, Christian and jazz.
• Private instruction in all woodwind and brass instruments (Tuesday and Wednesday evenings)
• Yoga for singers and instrumentalists (class times to be announced)

The Salisbury School of Music offers private and group instruction in vocal and instrumental music for all ages, and classes in a variety of music topics. For more information, visit www.salisburyschoolofmusic.com or contact Marc Hoffman at 704-633-8188.

About the Salisbury School of Music:

At the Salisbury School of Music, all classes emphasize music theory along with technique in order to develop the “whole” musician. All instructors are professional musicians and experienced teachers, most with advanced degrees in music. The music school also encourages student teachers and usually places them with beginning students. The studio is located on the second floor of the historic Meroney Theater, 213 S. Main Street, in Salisbury, NC 28144,