“I think it’s a really good opportunity because it is a really high commitment to major in music, so it’s good for students who major in different fields to have this,” Shugert said.
The All-Campus Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Combo will perform at 8:30 p.m. Tuesday in Ford-Crawford Hall.
Lexie Signor, who is finishing her doctoral work in the music school, conducts the All-Campus Jazz Ensemble. It is her second year.
The All-Campus Jazz Ensemble is a big band consisting of about 22 students.
“It’s been a blast,” Signor said. “They are a fantastic group of students from basically every major on campus.”
Shugert, an assistant instructor in the music school’s jazz department, conducts the All-Campus Jazz Combo, which is a group of seven students. The jazz combo is the first ensemble Shugert has directed at IU.
Signor said the All-Campus Jazz Ensemble is a creative outlet for students who are not in the music school. She said the students internalize the music.
“I think it’s extremely therapeutic,” Signor said. “They can join in the joy of creating music.”
The concert will feature music ranging from standards from the Great American Songbook to contemporary works, Shugert said.
Signor said the ensemble allows students to become more informed about contemporary big band styles.
“It’s intellectually stimulating as well as soothing to the soul,” Signor said.
Sophomore Jonathan Sussler plays drums in the jazz combo. He said he loves playing in a small ensemble because he is able to improvise.
Although he performed music in high school, Sussler said he chose to study sports marketing and management.
“I went to a high school that’s incredibly musically-oriented,” Sussler said. “Now I have a lot more freedom and I can improvise and showcase my own skills.”
Sussler said he is looking forward to the concert so the jazz combo can show the audience what they have been working on all semester.
The jazz combo meets once a week, a change from high school when he rehearsed twice a day, Sussler said.
The students have limited rehearsal time, so one of the challenges is finding time to practice music outside of class, Shugert said. He said some of the students are going above and beyond, including students who wrote arrangements for the jazz combo.
Shugert said he also likes seeing how the students’ excitement transforms the way they play the music.
“They take ownership of the music,” Shugert said. “It’s like they own the music, rather than just playing music I brought in for them to play.”
