ERASMUS+ BiP: New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers

Four European Music institutions come together and participate in an

ERASMUS+ Blended Intensive Programme.

JAM MUSIC LAB Private University for Jazz and Popular Music Vienna will host the Blended Intensive Programme

“New Standards: 101 Lead Sheets by Women Composers”

16th-21st of September 2024

The BIP will combine lectures and workshops and will end with a concert, which will be streamed to the public. Students from 4 partner institutions will play in combos and prepare a concert together.

The goal of the workshop is to develop a historical and social perspective on lingering issues of limited female instrumental participation in the art form jazz and develop inclusive teaching strategies.

The workshop aims for the following teaching objectives:

1. Acquire and perform musical repertoire from the Berklee collection New Standards

2. Study historical, cultural, and social factors at the root of limited participation of women in instrumental jazz

3. Participate in master classes with renowned jazz musicians and mentors

4. Reflect on practical and pedagogical strategies towards a more inclusive art form

You can download the program here: DOWNLOAD AGENDA

The final concert will be at Spielraum at Gasometer on friday, September 20th from 5 pm on. You can join the event at Spielraum or via livestream. You can find the link here: https://www.jammusicstage.com/de/livestreams/%22new-standards%22-bips-abschlusskonzert

Tutors

Federica Michisanti, bassist and double bass player

Home institution: SAINT LOUIS College of Music, Rome

 studied in Rome at the University of Music school, at the Saint Louis College of Music and at the Siena Jazz and Città di Castello masterclasses. Plus she studied classical music with Maestro Andrea Pighi.

She won the Top jazz 2018 in the new Italian talents category. Top Jazz is the annual referendum organized by Musica Jazz magazine. In 2019 won the Siae special prize for the originality of compositional research and as a prize she played with her trio with guest Louis Sclavis. She won the Top Jazz 2020 with her Horn trio, considered the best Italian group of the year and the Top jazz 2023 as best musician, best band and best Italian album of the year. She has recorded as a leader five albums containing her compositions.The last one entitled “Afternoons”, was recorded with her new Quartet featuring Louis Sclavis, with whom she has been collaborating on a stable basis for some years now, 

Vincent Courtois and Michele Rabbia. The last two albums were produced by Parco della Musica Records. She was a guest on Radio Rai 3's programs I Concerti del Quirinale, La Stanza della Musica, Battiti and Piazza Verdi and also took part in prestigious Italian and international festivals. 

In 2022/2023 she was part of the famous italian pop singer Ornella Vanoni's Tour "Women and Music". In 2021 she played on the European tour with the quartet of Dave Douglas and Franco D'Andrea, with Dan Weiss on drums. She played with Dominique Pifarèly, with whom she collaborates in duo;  played with Nicolas Masson, who is now part of his Trioness project;  collaborated with Bob Moses and Greg Burk on their project “Benign madness, profound gladness”, a record released in 2019. She was part of the national orchestra for young talents directed by Paolo Damiani. In April 2016 she participated in the recording of the album Omaggio a Janis Joplin - Jazz Corner, Jazz Italiano live at the Casa del Jazz which also contains a song co-signed by her. Teacher at the St Louis College of music in Rome, for whose label Camilla records she recorded an album with the pianist Amedeo Tommasi. Teacher at the Merano Jazz Academy summer masterclasses.

Marta Capponi, vocals

Home institution: SAINT LOUIS College of Music, Rome

Italian-born jazz vocalist Marta Capponi started her career when she was 12 years old, winning a number of local and later national music contests and being considered an "Enfant Prodige". At 19th she moved to Rome where she started her jazz studies at the prestigious school "Saint Louis College of Music" with some of the best Italian and international musicians and vocalists, including Maria Pia De Vito, Shawnn Monteiro, Carl Anderson, John Taylor, Paolo Fresu, John Patitucci, Bob Stoloff, Norma Winston, and many others. 

As soon as she arrived in Rome her name began to be heard in the musical scene. She then began many different collaborations that opened her mind to different kinds of musical experiences, from jazz to pop, from folk to Brazilian music, through contemporary and improvisation. Although she was very young she was able to perform side by side with Jazz masters like Bobby Durham, Fabrizio Bosso, Javier Girotto, Massimo Faraò and more. She performed in international famed festivals including "Umbria Jazz", "Umbria Jazz Winter", "Ravello Jazz Festival" , "Spoleto Festival die Due Mondi", "Casa del Jazz", "Villa Celimontana" , "Auditorium Parco della Musica" and in many venues across Italy and Europe, with her own band and as special guest. 

In 2012 Marta moved to London, ready for a new challenge and eager to push her dreams forward. She was soon welcomed in the London jazz scene, and though a relatively newcomer, her talent allowed her to establish herself as a respected musician.
She can be heard around London town performing with established and highly recognized musicians, spanning through a multitude of genres, with musicians such as the very exciting Phillip Achille (Lionel Richie,ESKA),Femi Temowo (Amy Winehouse, Soweto Kinch, Courtney Pine, The Roots, George Benson,Dee Dee Bridgewater ),Ernesto Simpson (Herbie Hancock, Omar Sousa, Richard Bona, Gonzalo Rubalcaba), Luca Boscagin(John Abercrombie, John Wetton, Sonny Fortune, Francesco Bearzatti), Adriano Adewale (Antonio Forcione, Sarah Jane Morris), Marcelo Andrade, who called Marta to be part of his own project "African Tree", and Antonio Forcione who wanted Marta as part of his historical Antonio Forcione Quartet as special guest. 

Influenced by a broad range of music and cultures, rooted into jazz and African music, Marta's goal is to find a way to blend all these experiences together to create a special and unique sound. She strongly believes that music is just one language, and that the most important thing is to free our "natural voice" to express our deepest emotions and find a connection with ourselves and the universe. Driven by this belief, she also takes forward her work as a teacher of vocal technique and musical expression, jazz improvisation, and songwriting.

Marta released her jazz standard album “Life Within” in 2020 with the UK critics acclaimed and she is currently working on her new album “Shaking the Blue” and on her new experimental project vocals and drums with drummer Emiliano Caroselli, called NucleUs. Marta is one of the former vocal teachers at Saint Louis College of Rome.

Chanda Rule

Home institution: JAM MUSIC LAB Private University, Vienna

With feet rooted in gospel, a heart filled with soul, and a voice touched with jazz, singer and songwriter Chanda Rule has been weaving stories through song, humming melodies, and bending words since her childhood. After graduating from Howard University, she took a flight to New York with dreams of using her freshly-earned journalism degree on Madison Avenue. Daunted by rush hour and cubicles, she turned to music for solace and soon after began her professional career in musical theater, appearing in a variety of productions, from New Jersey’s Hudson Shakespeare Company and regional tours, to "Hair, The Musical" in Amsterdam and Milan.

Her “bewitching voice” has a flexibility and range that has graced a variety of musical projects: from "Sapphire Dreams" recorded with the legendary pianist Kirk Lightsey, "Feeling Good: A Tribute to Nina Simone" where she was featured with sax powerhouse Donny McCaslin, and gospel fests and workshops with the Golden Gospel Singers, to appearing as a featured vocalist on ARTE Concert, Ö1 Jazznacht, and ORF's Dancing Stars. Featured in Cicily Janus' "The New Face of Jazz" (Billboard Books), Chanda has also performed as an opening act for India.Arie, Kamasi Washington, Amel Larrieux, Angela Bofill, Regina Belle & The Whispers.

Hold On, a mix of soulfully arranged American work songs, blues and gospel favorites was labeled “compelling and distinctive” by London Jazz News and “a fun ride of creative jazz” by The Jazz Word. Blues Blast Magazine wrote: “Expressive vocals, cool arrangements and beautiful musicianship make this an extraordinary album….She [Chanda Rule] and her band are the real deal!”

With her upcoming music endeavors, Chanda steps fully into original music composition – showcasing compelling lyrics that speak the heart’s language. Debuting in 2024: On Time – Chanda Rule & Sweet Emma Band; Revival, featuring Chanda Rule & Mickylee; and River, a sacred concert series commissioned by Montview Boulevard Presbyterian Church, where she wove poetry with liturgy creating an inspired work that was orchestrated by bassist and composer Ike Sturm.

Also a published writer, podcast host and storyteller who uses narrative and music for community building and communal healing, Chanda is the author of “How Butterfly Got Her Beautiful Wings and can be heard on her podcast, The Courageous Voice.

Monika Herzig, piano

Home institution: JAM MUSIC LAB Private University, Vienna

In 1987, the pedagogical institute in Weingarten, Germany awarded a scholarship for a one-year exchange program at the University of Alabama to one of their students, jazz pianist Monika Herzig. Together with her partner and guitarist Peter Kienle, she arrived in the States on a one-way ticket, with one suitcase of belongings and one guitar in August 1988.

Since then she has completed her Doctorate in Music Education and Jazz Studies at Indiana University, where she taught for three decades. She is the author of David Baker – A Legacy in Music, published in 2011 by IU Press,  Experiencing Chick Corea with Rowman & Littlefield, 2017, co-editor of Jazz and Gender (Routledge, 2022) and the previous editor of Jazz Education in Research and Practice (IU Press). Currently she is Professor of Artistic Research at the Jam Music Lab Private University, Vienna. She is the host of Talking Jazz, a radio program/ podcast broadcast weekly on WICR and WETF, as well as on podcast services and youtube.

 As a touring jazz artist, she has performed at many prestigious jazz clubs and festivals, such as the Canaris Mas Jazz Festival, Jazz Tales Festival, Women in Jazz Festival, Indy Jazz Fest, , the W.C.Handy Festival, to name just a few. Groups under her leadership have toured the US, Europe, and Japan, opened for acts such as Tower of Power, Sting, the Dixie Dregs, Yes, and more.

She has released more than a dozen CDs under her leadership on her own ACME Records as well as Owl Studios, Whaling City Sound, Jazz Urbane, and Savant.  Her awards include a 1994 Down Beat Magazine Award for Best Original Song, a Jazz Journalist Association Hero 2015 award, as well as grants from the NEA, the Indiana Arts Commission, MEIEA, Mid Atlantic Arts Foundation, Chamber Music America, Indiana University, among others. Her project “SHEROES” (Whaling City Sound, Savant) features the world’s leading female jazz instrumentalists including Leni Stern, Jamie Baum, Jennifer Vincent, Rosa Avila, Mayra Casales, Reut Regev, Ada Rovatti, and Ingrid Jensen and was featured on NPR’s Here and Now as well as cited as one of the best releases of 2018 in DownBeat Magazine, placing #31 on the year-end Jazz Week Charts. Thomas Garner from Garageradio.com writes, “I was totally awed by the fine musicianship throughout”.

Paolo di Sabatino, jazz pianist & composer

Conservatorio statale di Musica "Alfredo Casella", L'Aquila

Born in Teramo on September 26th 1970, he began studying piano at a very young age under the guidance of his father and graduated in 1990 with full marks, honours and special mention at the Music Conservatory in Bari (IT). In 1994, in the same Conservatory, he obtained his Diploma in Jazz Music. He has participated at severals radio-television broadcasts (Radio Rai 1,2,3, Radio Capital, Rai News 24, Tg2, Domenica In, La7) and played at important clubs and festivals, such as: Fano, Pescara, Pomigliano, Urbino, Gargano Piano Festival, Lignano, Foggia, Bergamo, Villa Celimontana, Cagliari, Veneto Jazz, Aosta, Ruvo di Puglia, At the Borders between Sardinia and Jazz; Jazz Showcase (Chicago); Lugo Jazz Festival, Salamanca Jazz Festival, Jazz Atlantico (Auditorio de Tenerife) (Spain); Izmir and Istanbul (Türkiye) Santiago, Chicureo and San Bernardo (Chile), Cordoba and Buenos Aires (Argentina), Shanghai and Wuhan (China), Taipei (Taiwan) and Bangalore (India), Skopje (Macedonia), Rio de Janeiro (Brazil) ), Warsaw, Sofia.

He has worked with very famous jazz artists from around the world such as: M. Urbani, G. Capiozzo, M. Roche, P. Fresu, L. Konitz, R. Giuliani, G. Telesforo, and many others.