Im September 2017 begann die erste Ausgabe des Focusyear: Es handelt sich dabei um ein intensives einjähriges Coaching, bei dem talentierte, von einer Experten-Jury ausgewählte, Jazzmusiker in einem neun köpfigen Ensemble unterrichtet werden. Diese Band wird in regelmäßigen Abständen von renommierten Größen der internationalen Jazz Szene unterrichtet werden. Wolfgang Muthspiel ist der Künstlerische Leiter des Focusyears.
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