UPDATE: Come see the students perform at the residency-ending recital on Friday night at 6 p.m. at Sutton Middle School.
About 40 APS students have been joined by a handful of others at this week’s Juilliard Summer Jazz Residency, which launched its third year in its third home Monday, at Sutton Middle School. The program, a partnership with the prestigious Juilliard School in New York City, continues to grow and evolve as it offers a range of music instruction from some of the best jazz educators in the nation. The program started with six instructors in 2008, increased to eight last year, and now features 12 instructors.
The students appear to be evolving at the same pace. Just take a look at Young Middle rising seventh-grader James Robertson (pictured, middle row left). He’s been with the program every year, but it wasn’t until this year that he’s really started to shine, according to Reginald Colbert, co-program director with Natalie Colbert. Reginald is the Academy Leader for North Atlanta High’s Center for the Arts while Natalie runs the music program at Sutton, and they’ve both marveled at the development of players like Robertson, whose saxophone can be heard in an earlier video we posted. “He was really just walking around and carrying his instrument and attending classes the first two years,” Reginald Colbert noted of Robertson, who’s barely bigger than his saxophone. But this year (as you’ll see from watching this video), Robertson has matured tenfold, bringing a rich tone to his playing. What happened? “He practiced all year,” replied Colbert, whose gotten to know James’ parents (both of whom are musicians). “Now his dad says he has to send him to bed at night, he’s practicing so much.”