And All That Jazz...Or Maybe Not So Much

After being in the Hartt School of Music for a semester, I've realized something. The jazz program, though very good, is REALLY tiny compared to the rest of the school. When I came here, I expected there to be a ton of kids involved in jazz compared to classical, when in fact it's the other way around. Turns out, most students prefer to stick with classical music rather than jazz. Even those who enjoy jazz and have played it stay in the classical area. I wasn't really sure why, until it hit me that though jazz was a "popular" music genre, classical has never gone out of style. There is always a market for classical musicians, be it in orchestras or film scores or music education. Now don't get me wrong, knowing and appreciating classical music is very important. I'm a big fan of it myself. But one cannot ignore jazz. It's is the foundation of all popular music, and it's concepts of improvisation and immense creativity is vital to music as a whole. A truly well-rounded musician can be comfortable sitting in an orchestra or standing up front with a jazz quartet and improvise.