Press release
Winter JAM sessions on Wednesdays in January at Black Mountain Center for the Arts
Music fills the air during the holidays. Music fills the air every Wednesday at the Black Mountain Center for the Arts where the next JAM sessions are starting up again in January.
Junior Appalachian Musicians (JAM) are in 3rd- 9th grades (or ages 8-14) and learn to play traditional Appalachian tunes on banjo, fiddle or guitar. Group JAM sessions occur every Wednesday from 3:30 – 5pm and are divided into two sessions. The winter session lasts 8 weeks starting Jan 8 through February 26. The spring JAM session begins March 5 and continues until May 21, (with 4/2 spring break week off). Home schoolers are welcome. The sessions last 19 weeks and are very affordable with $162.75 tuition payable in two parts of $68.50 and $94.25 at the start of each session.
Students who have their own instruments are encouraged to bring them, however some instruments will be available for rental. Teachers this year are the very talented Cary Fridley, Ben Nelson and Meredith Wilson. These master players teach through demonstration, repetition and verbal instructions, breaking students into smaller groups. Sessions include some singing and traditional dance steps.
BMCA hosts the Buncombe County classes. This project is supported by the N.C. Arts Council, a division of the Department of Cultural Resources, with funding from the National Endowment for the Arts.
Arts Center Executive Director Gale Jackson wrote the grant that makes JAM so affordable to Buncombe County residents. “Our JAM students are playing in venues around the area, forming “groups” with other musicians and stretching themselves in ways their parents never thought imaginable.”
For more information call the Black Mountain Center for the Arts at 828/669-0930 or visit www.BlackMountainArts.org
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