A private concert at the Collège français will mark the official launch of the Montreal Jazz School on Monday. The initiative comes from Michel Picard, who last spring was a student at the Conservatory of Music at McGill University, where his now partner, Jason Stillman, directed the jazz section. In three months, they completed a new model of independent teaching.
“The innovation that we bring to the École de jazz de Montréal is a very varied panoply of jazz formations that includes combos [ensembles]private lessons, of course, theoretical lessons, vocal lessons and all the aspects allowing musicians to perfect their art related to jazz”, enthuses Michel Picard.
At the beginning of this year, he was far from seeing himself at the head of an educational institution, a non-profit organization, in the process of building programs and projects to attract jazz musicians, amateurs and professionals alike.
A brutal announcement
It all dates back to mid-June 2022, when McGill University announced the permanent closure of its music conservatory due to a steep drop in enrollment numbers since the start of the pandemic. The establishment, founded in 1904, which had 550 students in 2019, had seen this figure drop below 300 in 2021, when the courses were given only virtually.
A mobilization to save the Conservatory had been initiated with a petition, but since the beginning of July, this movement, relayed by The duty in its edition of July 6, hardly made speak about him. Contacted twice in the past few days, its representatives said “not ready to take stock now”, but assure that the teachers “continue their work and offer the best conditions and the best spirit to serve their students”.
“I was a student at the Conservatory in jazz, and two or three weeks before the end of the session, we received the news that the University was closing the doors of the Conservatory. There were few explanations, except “official” reasons related to profitability. Everyone was shocked, offended”, says Michel Picard, who remembers that “beyond the quick and irreversible decision to close for profit reasons, it was the lack of effort to want to maintain the Conservatory and find solutions to regain cruising speed” which had troubled him.
Mr. Picard remembers all the good intentions expressed: “A lot of good intentions, but nothing concrete. Everyone showed a will to do something, but the initiatives were not known. »
So he took matters into his own hands. “In the jazz section, the will of the students was clear: we wanted to continue. So we needed a place to rehearse, and my understanding was that it would be in Montreal. Michel Picard first offers to “give a hand” to Jason Stillman, his teacher and section director. “Given the magnitude of the workload, we quickly agreed that I would get involved full-time to ensure that the Conservatory was revived, but only the jazz section. »
Well-Ordered Charity
“It’s not that I don’t like classical music,” said Mr. Picard, who has a classical piano training, amused. The project will therefore only concern jazz.
His motto is to “keep the momentum “. In July and August, the Picard-Stillman duo found premises and made sure to have a minimum of students (two sets, or “combos”) to support the project.
“We are partners with the French College, which allows us to install in its premises what is now called the Montreal Jazz School”, proudly announces Michel Picard ahead of the opening, scheduled for Monday. As for finances: “It’s like any business: we have income and expenses to balance. We are a non-profit organization and must have a sufficient number of students per group [6 ou 7 par classe] so that their quarterly fees cover our expenses and pay the teachers. We sublet the premises and charge students an amount comparable to university fees. »
And it works ! “The good surprise is that we were not mistaken about the momentum : we don’t have two combo classes, but four. Most of the students at the School of Jazz are alumni of the combo classes at the McGill University Conservatory. Others were “in more private and restricted groups in Montreal”.
Jason Stillman will match supply to demand by hiring teachers: combo, singing classes, theory classes, improvisation-composition, workshops and masterclasses. Michel Picard is working on the following: an offer enriched by an online approach that will allow students in the regions to have access to the École de jazz de Montréal. “Lots of other things are coming, including an online training program both at the ‘jazz 101’ level and at the level of workshops and masterclasses. »
There are no plans to open the Jazz School to other styles, such as classical, but Michel Picard encourages other vocations: “I think that our approach to the market, very aware of business requirements in terms of expenses and income, applies to others, and I encourage the classical section to do the same. »