Focusyear Basel:
A one-year intensive Jazz Course uniquely in Europe
September 2017 marks the debut of Focusyear Basel: A one-year intensive course for exceptionally talented jazz musicians, selected by an expert jury, who will form an ensemble of nine people. The band will be coached and advised in a regular cycle by acknowledged masters of the international Jazz scene. Wolfgang Muthspiel is artistic director of Focusyear.
Wolfgang Muthspiel about Focusyear
“I have often been thinking about Jazz Education during my years of studies in Austria and the USA and during my years as a professor at the Musikhochschule in Basel. We all know that Jazz is hard to teach and some of its essential qualities are hard to put in words, let alone systems. Focusyear is my attempt to create the most direct learning environment for talented musicians, one that is not governed by curricular structures, but instead exclusively deals with the reality of sound and community of an ensemble. Inspired by the World Music Institute at Berklee and the Monk Institute in Los Angeles, and thanks to the support from the Levedo Foundation, we can realize a dream in the heart of Europe.”
www.focusyearbasel.com