The March issue of Downbeat Magazine profiles Dr. Arthur Falbush of the SUNY Oneonta Music Department and his work as co-director of the Proctors Summer Jazz Institute. Downbeat, the world’s leading jazz magazine, featured the program because of its uncommon philosophy of teaching improvisational music.
The Proctors Summer Jazz Institute is one of New York state’s largest summer jazz programs. Its curriculum, developed by Falbush and co-director Keith Pray, is unique in contemporary jazz education because every aspect of the performance is accomplished through listening with no written music, whatsoever.
The Downbeat article details how Proctors has grown fourfold in the five years since Falbush and Pray assumed stewardship. In 2010, the program received a $10,000 grant from the Schenectady School District, which enabled 24 students to attend free of charge. The purpose of the grant was to improve the literacy of at-risk students through exposure to jazz. The 2011 Proctors Summer Jazz Institute will be held in July.
Dr. Falbush is a veteran trumpet player who has worked Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dr. Billy Taylor, Mercer Ellington and Tom Harrell. He also is the founder and the executive director of the Oneonta Jazz Festival, the only inter-SUNY system jazz festival.