Vienna's Jam Music Lab Announces University Status, Honors Thelonious Monk with Composition Competition

Located in one of Europe's most beautiful and historically important cities, with a vast music tradition and high living standard, Jam Music Lab is excited to announce the accreditation of its University status.

The University specializes in jazz and popular music, offering its students practical experiences in professional environments while upholding the academic process. An internal agency provides appropriate work opportunities while ensuring educational guidance. This way students will be carefully introduced to the realities of work life.

Situated in the 11th district of Simmering, an urban and culturally diverse part of Vienna, Austria, the Jam Music Lab University is housed at an architectural landmark in the Gasometer. There are four former storage tanks called Gasometers that were built in 1899 as the monarchy's major energy provider. Vienna undertook a remodeling and revitalization of the protected monuments with well-known architects. Gasometer B, C and D, called Gasometer Music City, house a university campus with over 11,000 m2.

Besides the Jam Music Lab University itself, this includes a music hall (capacity of 2000-3000), music retailers, a student dormitory and other music-related institutions for various ages offering pedagogical collaborations for students. Gasometer Music City has its own subway station. Vienna's center is only a short ride away.

The following bachelor (4 yrs) and master's degrees (2 yrs) can be obtained:
•Bachelor / Master of Arts in Music
•Bachelor / Master of Arts in Music Education

The focus lies on the following branches: Music Performance aims at instrumental, vocal, compositional and musical proficiency at a high level. Music Pedagogy provides insights to the methods and principles of music instruction. Media Music teaches film scoring, and music production for film, theatre, commercial production and video games.

The JMLU faculty consists of international, first-rate professors, who have worked extensively in their fields of expertise. Among them, Grammy-award winning musicians and producers. JMLU understands the importance of teaching music business helping students to become efficient in building and promoting their own careers.

In addition, the institute hosts workshops, panels and master classes on a regular basis to present international authorities from all over the world.

The concert venues and stages throughout the city of Vienna offer everything from classical to jazz and progressive sounds. Jazz clubs, concert venues, music halls and several orchestras call Vienna their home. Marcus Ratka, JMLU's director, explains: "We are located in the city of music. Vienna's high culture is of major importance to people's daily lives. Artists and musicians are well regarded, and a healthy music scene creates work by demand. We aim to equip our students, so they can live well."

The University utilizes a tight network and collaborates with venues, club owners, orchestras and festivals, among them the acclaimed JAZZFEST Wien. Professors and students are continually invited to perform and to demonstrate their skills.

Courses are being held in German and English. Skills in both languages are desirable. First Bachelor & Master Studies start in September 2017. Auditions are scheduled for June 21, 22, 23, 2017. For further information, go to www.jammusiclab.com.

To honor the centennial of the great American jazz pianist and composer, Thelonious Monk "Spheres of a Genius," a high-end composition competition was created. Marcus Ratka, the organizer, says about his influence, "To me Monk´s music has opened doors to new rooms of sounds, structures and ways of creating music. He raised my awareness for the charming beauty of dissonance and the contradictions in the arts."

The competition will feature the world-famous Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra. There will be three finalists. The winning composition will be premiered by the Orchestra with Jazz soloists in a gala at the historic Golden Hall on June 7, 2018. The concert will be broadcasted as part of the Ö1 radio program. In addition, the winner receives € 5.000! Second prize is € 3.000, third prize takes € 2.000 home.

The Jury will consist of representatives of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra, Jam Music Lab University and international music experts.

The contest aims to create music that will reflect the spirit of Thelonious Monk from a contemporary perspective; to provoke inspiration for further innovation, originality and musical communication in contemporary jazz. The composition is intended to offer a demanding and an up-to-date platform for the exploration of exciting interrelationships of jazz in its composed, as well as improvised forms. The "Sounds" and "Spheres" in the unmistakable musical innovations of Monk, are very much prevalent in the possibilities that composed music offers us, especially when a large-scale composition calls for the orchestra to interact with jazz idioms and jazz musicians. Deadline for submissions is June 1, 2017.

For all details, contact info and submission procedures, go directly to:
ENG - www.jammusiclab.at/upload/monk/call-for-scores--spheres-of-a-genius--monk-2017--en.pdf
GER - www.jammusiclab.at/upload/monk/ausschreibung--spheres-of-a-genius--monk-2017--de.pdf

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