I offer educational workshops on the following topics (all can be delivered either virtually or in-person):
Realtime Composition
Creating Music Together in the Moment
Interactive demonstration, workshop, and Q&A, focused on structured improvisation and composition
(45-90 minutes, geared towards elementary/high school or college/professional; available for several sessions or a multi-day residency)
This workshop will empower musicians to improvise and direct with imagination and confidence. Your students will create original compositions by directing the ensemble as conductors/composers. Everyone will use hand signs and gestures drawn from Soundpainting (by Walter Thompson) and Conduction (by Butch Morris). I’ll create an atmosphere where participants can have fun as they collaboratively make music in real time.
Games & Outcomes include:
- Everyone a Drummer: developing a rhythmic interdependency through group listening exercises and internal pulse challenges
- Pan-Tonic Intonation: integrating principles of harmonics and ensemble balance to instill a sensitivity to intonation as a continual process
- Talking in Music: exploring cross-cultural linguistic models as inspiration for phrasing, instant polyphony, and accompaniment strategies
…[Evan Mazunik’s] fluid, authoritative gesturing at first appears to be a choreographed dance of its own…Under Mazunik’s guidance, a perceptible shape begins to emerge in the performance. Bass and percussion are layered into the soundscape. He draws the audience into the music, calling out for laughter with sweeping gestures, and the audience happily obliges. (Kyle Ancowitz, nytheatre.com)
Music Performance Breakthrough
Overcoming Stage Fright Through Improvisation
Interactive presentation and discussion featuring group exercises and reflective learning
(60-90 minutes, best for college/professional level; available for several sessions or a multi-day residency)
Students will learn strategies to transform their fear of performance into fuel for playing. I will apply contemporary insights from neuroscience and sports psychology as I direct players in game-based approaches to improvisation. Participants will practice physical and mental tactics to defuse and eventually conquer their performance anxiety. By the end of our workshop, they will remove the obstacles that hamper their playing and learn to unleash more confident, expressive, and emotionally-compelling performances. I aim to help them to deeply connect with their audiences to share the joy, beauty, and power of live music.
Breakfast With Haydn
Building a Daily Practice of Creativity
Interactive workshop
(45-90 minutes, geared towards high school through college-level)
How do you create a regular habit of composing, not just when inspiration strikes? This workshop will provide concrete steps, tools, and tips to build a daily discipline of creative work, where I’ll reveal the methods that have helped me stay consistently creative.
Sections & Outcomes include:
- Planning Your Creative Approach: the nuts and bolts of habit formation
- Developing Your Creative Work: the five big “moves” to generate ideas and develop your composition
- Transitioning Within Your Creative Work: five strategies from filmmaking to help you move from one section/mood to another when your stuck
- Sharing Your Work: how to create a structure of accountability while connecting with your audience
TEACHING BIO
Evan Mazunik, founder of Bliss Street Music Academy, has led master classes and workshops at the New School, Colorado Mesa University, University of Indiana, University of North Texas, the Royal Academy of Music in London, and many others, both as a soloist and in collaboration with other teaching artists.
Evan received a Bachelors degree in piano performance and a Masters in jazz studies from the University of Iowa. He currently serves as the Choral Director at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in the Denver, CO area.
VIEW TEACHING RESUME (Google Doc)
CONTACT
Question about details? Interested in customizing a workshop to fit your needs? Just reach out via the CONTACT page.