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Every time I see a teaching artist talk about music I learn something new...

Application deadline: January 23, 2012. Under the leadership of trumpeter/composer Dave Douglas and his hand-picked group of leading jazz faculty, this unique program leaves the rigid academic environment behind, encouraging creativity and facilitating leaps of artistic innovation. Participants benefit from daily master classes, small ensemble rehearsals, and common sessions with some of the world’s most inspiring jazz musicians.

As many around the jazz internet saw yesterday, Vijay Iyer has been announced as the successor to Dave as the director of the Banff International Workshop in Jazz and Creative Music starting in 2013. Details on the Banff Workshop for this, Dave's last year as director, are below.

Diversity is one of the great strengths of this workshop and the opportunities made available by the Banff Center. Last night's post-concert jam session was opened by a burning quartet with members from Latvia, Australia, South Korea, and Rochester, New York. The program encompasses a wide swath of communities, instrumentations, lineages, and musical philosophies.

My God, it's beautiful up here today. After a week of rain and snow, the skies opened this morning and the sunshine is dazzling on the snow covered peaks. It's a good day for a run. A few of us plan to run up Sulfur Mountain (update: in Canada they spell it Sulphur. Go figure.), an elevation change of about 2200 feet (update: it was more like 3000 feet of climb).