Band Director Christopher McCurdy believes in a group-first mindset, and he vigorously advocates for it at Ulysses S. Grant High School in Portland, Oregon. “Every student deserves an accessible and comprehensive music education no matter where or when they start,” he says. “I do my best to make my non-auditioned classes as accessible as possible to every student, even those with no musical experience.”
Jazz is one area that McCurdy has expanded since his arrival at Grant four years ago. He impressed upon students, parents and administrators that jazz should be on the same tier as a concert band. “In so many schools, jazz is an afterthought or the ‘fun’ class,” he explains. “I believe that it is the best avenue to develop students’ personal musical ownership, and it is our duty as educators to preserve the authenticity and beauty of America’s music through mindful and skilled jazz education.”
Because McCurdy did not require students to be members of a concert band to join the jazz band, enrollment grew quickly. Currently, the number of students in jazz is on par with concert band. “I teach the same fundamentals with my jazz students that I developed in concert band,” he says. “The jazz lab course focuses on jazz history, improvisation and combo work. It’s an ‘all-comers’ course with no audition. We’ve had some of our best kids start in jazz, which is a strong reminder that we sometimes miss reaching many eager students due to audition or scheduling requirements.”
Last year, McCurdy and a group of motivated female students started a female jazz ensemble. It started as a jazz-intensive day camp for middle school girls where they learned jazz from local female jazz professionals, but the attendees also realized that they were in a safe space and could share lived experiences about music and gender. Currently the female jazz program, which encompasses all the girls and gender minorities in the overall jazz program at Grant, has 22 students, but the members are committed to grow this number.
“After the day camp, a small group of five to seven students began gigging around town as the combo JazzChangesPDX,” McCurdy exclaims. “The need was clear, and watching so many freshman girls and gender minorities flock to the program this fall has been the proof of concept. If you carve out a place for everyone, it can fundamentally change the space around you in a beautiful way.”
McCurdy and the parent booster organization work diligently at fundraising to make sure that every student has the ability to go to honor bands, festivals and solo/ensemble free of charge. “Our job is to knock down any walls standing in the way of a motivated and willing student,” McCurdy says proudly. “I am constantly advocating for arts funding in our district and while it’s often difficult, I believe that if your voice isn’t in the room, you can’t expect any real change to land in your lap.”
One of McCurdy’s favorite aspects of his music program is the positive, student-led culture of kindness and accountability. All freshmen are paired with an older student mentor who is their point person as they get started in the music program. “This has led to some really beautiful peer-to-peer moments that help drive us to continue the tradition of excellence that we work so hard to accomplish,” McCurdy says.
