Music
Jazz Labs Dayton Summer Camp
James Leslie (Jazz Area Coordinator) and the jazz faculty at the University of Dayton are excited to offer this summer jazz camp for middle and high school students. Jazz Labs Dayton is a summer jazz education program started by UD alumnus Hal Melia over 30 years ago, and has touched the lives of over 1000 students. This week-long summer day camp provides students with musical essentials and life skills they can use to become the best musicians and the best people they can be. Performances are family friendly and open to the public.
Besides the musical instruction, students are given opportunities to learn teamwork, leadership, self-expression and self-discovery in a positive and supportive environment
Date: June 9-14, 2024
Location: University of Dayton
For more information, please contact James Leslie
Registration information
- $355 (without lunch)
There is limited scholarship money available for attendees. Reach out to James Leslie for scholarship information.
*-Lunch will only be offered Monday through Thursday during the week.
- Section warm-ups
- Masterclasses by instrument
- Elective classes in arranging and jazz singing
- Listening sessions
- Combo rehearsals (with an emphasis on improvisation)
- Big Band rehearsals
- Faculty jam sessions
- Student concert
Non-UD faculty members
The energy and personality Hal Melia brings to his teaching and his performing are contagious. Those who have experienced his workshops, classes and performances never forget the tireless effort and positive aura he exudes in any setting. He is the epitome of the multi-instrumentalist, playing soprano, alto, tenor and baritone saxophones, flute, piccolo, clarinets (Bb, Eb Soprano, and Bass) and EWI (electronic wind instrument).
Melia spent 1986 through 1991 in Los Angeles recording and arranging with top jazz and R&B groups (Tower of Power Horns, Buddy Rich Band, Billy Vera and the Beaters), and appearing in several major motion pictures (Bugsy, Dick Tracy, The Marrying Man, Mobsters, Parent Trap III and others). He has also recorded with artists on several labels, including MCA Records and Positive Music Records, Inc. In the fall of 1991, he returned to Dayton, where he was founder and director of Jazz Labs, a jazz school for kids from middle school through high school. He also taught jazz at various schools and privately in the Southwestern Ohio area, while maintaining a rigorous regional performing schedule. During this time he attained his Masters Degree in Saxophone Performance from the University of Cincinnati College of Conservatory of Music.
John Zappa is a performer and educator. At Northern Kentucky University, he teaches trumpet, Jazz Theory, Arranging, Jazz History, Composition, Improvisation and Jazz Appreciation as well as coaching a variety of ensembles. As an educator, Zappa has written a text book for Jazz Appreciation and developed Jazz Theory and Arranging courses to fit the needs of the students at NKU. He also developed a course called Composition For Commercial Media which blends composition with technology. Many of Zappa’s former students have gone on to successful performing careers and some as successful music educators. His trumpet students range from serious jazz players to lead/commercial players and classical players looking for better technique.
He also maintains a performing schedule and has appeared throughout the United States, Asia and Europe. Zappa’s professional credits as a trumpeter run the gambit of musical styles and ensembles. While primarily a jazz trumpeter appearing regularly with several big bands and jazz combos, he also plays with salsa bands, concert orchestras, pit orchestras and show bands. He is also an accomplished studio musician recording music for theme parks and television commercials as well recording for various album projects which have included the Grammy nominated “When Bullfrogs Croak” by Zach Morgan and “We Want the Funk” by Bootsy Collins for the movie “Undercover Brother.”