For more than 10 years, I have been working alongside my dear friend and partner on Samba Meets Jazz Workshops, Alice Schiller.  My wife, Luisa Matta, has been helping us from the very beginning, from public relations to making sure people are comfortable and having fun in our camps. So together Alice, Luisa and I form a Dynamic Triangle. . 

 

Our goal has always been to bring the best to our participants, lovers of creative music. -- music with styles coming from different cultures such as music from Brazil, Cuba and the USA.  

During this time together in our SMJ, we realized that there is no right age to learn music or play an instrument, tap or sing.

 

For these reasons, our goal every year is to offer the best - educationally, location-wise and logistically.  Easy example is  our venue in Bar Harbor, Maine at College of the Atlantic! . Nothing better than enjoying a wonderful place with birds, mountains and ocean in front of you after making Art that delights the soul!

 

Within our high quality group of teachers, the faculty guides each class leading the participants into a comfortable zone of both playing and learning simultaneously.   Last summer we will added  an accordian master class.   This year, a  new feature will be a class about Blues that I am sure will bring a new way of seeing and understanding Jazz.

 

Every year we always receive new faces that bring new energy and happiness, besides our regular participants - people that Alice, Luisa and I love so much!  In recent years, we added Tap Dance classes to the program which brought in a new group of fantastic students!  

 

Above all, regardless of your proficiency, the Arts in your life can be one of the most fulfilling experiences a person can have.  I can’t wait for our upcoming 5-day workshop  in Ghent, Belgium -- to have fun with participants, learning and enjoying  as we explore the magical city and its cuture.  Viva Música!

 

 

Sending love, 

Nilson