Education


The Song Project conducts Master Classes, residencies and guest appearances at educational institutions and for private/public groups. Mark Rapp and Derek Lee Bronston are dedicated and passionate educators. Their vast, cumulative working experience has enabled them to impart a thorough knowledge of what it takes to succeed in today’s music business. Rapp and Bronston also work with faculty and customize their workshops to enhance the academic classroom curriculum. They also provide one on one instruction as requested by faculty.


Workshops


Rapp (trumpet) and Bronston (guitar, vocals) focus on the varied elements of jazz performance; demonstrate various improvisational techniques which include rhythm, melody, chords and scales; discuss band interaction, rehearsal and practice routines; emphasis on developing individual sound and phrasing; provide original charts and arrangements which serve as a platform to invigorate and involve music students in the creative process, culminating in combined performance.



Master Classes: Survival Tactics of a Working Musician


Self-motivation, thinking outside the box to create performance opportunities and successful strategies for earning a living through music are addressed. Topics also include long term investing, insurance, tax management and suggestion for avoiding or eliminating debt.



Mark Rapp holds a Bachelors in Performance from Winthrop University and earned his Masters in Jazz Studies from the University of New Orleans under the tutelage of Ellis Marsalis, continuing to live and play in New Orleans for 5 years. He has now lived in NYC for 9 years, performing and releasing 4 diverse records, including leading and recording the closing track of Disney’s CD “Everybody Wants to be a Cat.“ The CD also features Roy Hargrove, Dave Brubeck, Esperanza Spalding, The Bad Plus, Joshua Redman and more.



Derek Lee Bronston is an experienced, multi-genre New York based musician. He has 7 records as a leader and co-leader, and sideman appearances on many others. Hailing from Detroit, he’s played with Cecil Taylor, Tom Harrel, Billy Bang, Branford Marsalis, The Hush, Mostley, Jerry Gonzalez and Dave Binney, to name a few. He continues to record and tour internationally as a singer/songwriter/guitarist.



The group’s music exemplifies astute genre bending and blending in the jazz idiom to create a signature sound as a band. In duo, trio or quartet formats, their live shows continue to ignite audiences, extending jazz interpretations into music ranging from Radiohead, Paul McCartney, AC/DC to Cole Porter, Miles Davis and more. With captivating guitar and trumpet interchanges, enhanced with raw, emotional vocals, The Song Project explores the art of the song as written and improvised.