With their upcoming tour postponed and schools closed across the country, Sammy Miller and The Congregation will bring together newly out-of-work musicians with newly out-of-school students for the online music masterclass Camp Congregation. Every weekday from March 17-27, the New York-based group, renowned for its joyful Jazz, will be livestreaming an hour of music workshops, jam sessions, history classes, listening parties, and more, to any student that wants to participate. More info here: http://www.sammymillercongregation.com/
Join the first class Tuesday, March 17th at 1pm PDT (4pm EDT). Preview HERE.
Sammy and Molly Miller explained the development of the concept for Camp Congregation in this Medium post, where they write:
“A majority of our friends — who already live gig to gig and paycheck to paycheck — are now jobless. Millions of students across the country are stranded. If we can connect these two groups, we can deliver unprecedented access to arts education. We can make use of this crisis to inspire and empower a wave of creativity in the next generation. We can begin to fill a gap created by decades of defunding arts education. We’ve seen up close what access to the arts can mean for a student, particularly in underserved communities.
Thirty years from now, every kid in America will talk about where they were during this crisis. We want them all to say that this was the moment they fell in love with the arts.”
Sammy Miller, a Grammy-nominated drummer for his work with Joey Alexander, convened The Congregation in 2014 at The Juilliard School in New York City where he was getting his master’s in jazz. They were set to head out on tour this past weekend for the remainder of March in support of their debut record Leaving Egypt, but like all tours across the globe, they’ve had to cancel and will work on rescheduling the dates.
