Workshops and Master Classes: BEN GOLDBERG (TIN HAT, GO HOME)

Clarinetist and composer Ben Goldberg has led workshops and classes at UC Berkeley, Reed College, the Vancouver Jazz Festival, the Hartt School of Music. He maintains a vigorous private studio and has taught Chromatic Harmony at Mills College. Goldberg’s understanding of the possibilities of music education has been deeply influenced by his studies with three important teachers: Rosario Mazzeo, Steve Lacy, and Joe Lovano. He has a Masters Degree in Composition from Mills College. 

His flexible teaching approach focuses on helping students find ways to develop their personal voice in the context of playing and working in an ensemble. 

Goldberg says: “Musical knowledge should be practically useful; whether pursuing jazz, classical music, or other forms of composition and perfor-mance, a musician needs to have immediate, intuitive access to the tools of the craft.  To achieve this, the acquisition of knowledge should be rooted in personal experience.  In a seminar, I try to present students with ways to conduct their own research into the fundamentals of music — intervals, harmony, rhythm, phrasing.  We participate in exercises that illuminate these fundamentals and connect them to the students’ musical activities and other parts of their lives. Hopefully this will give people new ways to approach their studies as they continue in music.”