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Time:

Thursday
December, 19, 2019
03:00 PM - 04:00 PM

Location:

Meeting Room W182

Clinician(s)

Edgar Gabriel

Edgar Gabriel

[email protected]

How and Why to Include Improvisation in Your String Orchestra

Clinic Synopsis:

Violinist Edgar Gabriel will demonstrate how easy, important and fun it is to incorporate improvisation into your string orchestra. Where to start, how to incorporate it into already published materials and how success can be achieved. The clinic will focus on ensemble playing and improvisation. Bring your instrument, even if it is not a stringed instrument.

Edgar Gabriel - Biographical Information

Edgar Gabriel is currently on the music faculties of Elmhurst College and of William Rainey Harper College where his duties include classroom teaching, string orchestra for adults, jazz improvisation, electric string ensemble and private violin instruction. Prior to the colleges, Edgar taught at the Merit School of Music in Chicago. Mr. Gabriel has developed musical and technical “String Groove”, teaching materials for strings that involve workshops, books, Cd’s, original string ensemble compositions and an app for mobile devices. These “String Groove”, publications are used worldwide, in 2003, he was invited by ESTA (European String Teachers Association) to Gothenburg Sweden to teach his String Groove to over 250 Scandinavian String Teachers. He teaches improvisation clinics in schools and other string institutions, where the students often perform and learn to improvise with his compositions. Edgar is continually writing new works for students and professionals and has written pieces for great artists such as virtuoso Rachel Barton Pine, who has performed his “Theme and Variations for Solo Rock Violin” around the globe. Edgar regularly hosts innovative sessions for ASTA (American String Teachers Association), and has served on ASTA’s Eclectic Styles board. As a professional violinist, Edgar’s abilities have led him to perform with many great artists such as Ray Charles, Plant & Page and Andrea Bocelli. He has worked with many renown-performing ensembles including Cirque du Soleil, Steppenwolf Theatre and Chicago Opera Theater and played on countless recording sessions including Cd’s for Cheap Trick, Rachel Barton Pine and the Plain White T’s. He can be heard regularly in performance and on recordings with his jazz-fusion ensemble StringFusion. Mr. Gabriel holds a M.M. in Jazz Composition from DePaul University and his undergraduate music degree is from Northern Illinois University.

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