UConn Collaboration with Berkshire County Students
“Berkshire County students get some free jazz lessons from UConn students, instructor” by Jane Kaufman (The Berkshire Eagle, Nov 25, 2025)
Students practice saxophone Tuesday at a jazz workshop at Pittsfield High School. (Photo by Jane Kaufman)
PITTSFIELD — Cacophony ruled in the library of Pittsfield High School on Tuesday evening.
Six drummers, rotating on three drum sets trading fours, while an equal number of keyboardists practiced comping, walking the bass line and soloing on top. Meanwhile, a circle of electric bassists plugged in taking turns on solos while the rest played rhythm.
Each of the students had a difficult role: They had to listen to the musicians within their group while tuning out what the musicians in other groups were doing.
Jazz was the language of the evening, as students from the University of Connecticut shared their knowledge with Berkshire County students ranging from sixth to 12th grade.
These workshops — which also included lessons on guitar, trombone, trumpet and woodwinds in other spaces at the school — came as a result of a collaboration between Berkshires Jazz and Ashley Paradis, band director at Pittsfield High School.
Students in public school jazz bands all over Berkshire County were invited to Tuesday’s 90-minute workshop. Two more are scheduled in February and April.
“I’m a clarinetist, not a saxophonist, so having someone that plays your instrument can really affect how you can hear and change your sound,” Paradis said.
At a broader level, “I’m really passionate about making sure students in Berk-shire County are getting experiences because we’re kind of forgotten about out here,” she said. “It’s kind of important that these students are getting these world-class experiences.”
John Mastroianni, assistant professor in residence of jazz studies at the University of Connecticut, brought six of his students to lead classes on their instruments.
“Already I have the utmost of respect for all of you,” Mastroianni told all 40 students from three school districts — Lenox, Berkshire Hills and Pittsfield. “Because you’re giving of your time and you’re giving of your talents to further develop yourself individually but also to perpetuate the beautiful art form — America’s only true art form — jazz.”
His goal and the goal of his students — the master musicians in this setting— was to help their younger counterparts develop their skill as individual players and within an ensemble. To that end, tone quality, breathing and exercises were part of the mix on Tuesday, but so were other skills specific to jazz.
“What are the three most important elements of jazz?” Mastroianni asked the group.
“Improvisation,” one student said.
“Improvisation definitely is a biggie,” Mastroianni said. “That’s the key element of jazz.”
“Dynamics,” said a second.
“Being able to play off of each other,” said a third.
“Yep, these are all things we’re going to do,” Mastroianni said. But he noted that no one mentioned rhythm.
“Nothing means anything unless you play it with good rhythm and good time,” he said. “So I could take out my saxophone right now and play the coolest licks you ever heard in your life and I could make them sound like the worst thing ever because they won’t be in rhythm.”
Mastroianni then split the group into three sections. The first clapped on the first beat of a four-beat measure, the second on beat four.
“You got the hard job,” he told the group in the middle. “You’re going to clap on the ‘and’ of the second beat,” referring to the last half of the second beat.
And that made the rhythm swing.
“Keep it going. Feel it in your bones,” he said, as the clapping continued. “Very good. Fantastic. You might think that’s really easy. I can’t even tell you how many times I do that and it totally falls apart by like the second measure.”
Sean Byington, a senior at UConn, was in constant motion, hopping among three drum sets, and occasionally playing along with students to reinforce rhythmic patterns.
He pulled out a page and told the students there’s a lot of unwritten material in a jazz chart for a drummer.
“You’re supposed to know it,” he said. “I’m here to help you.”
As the student drummers took turns playing improvised solos, he told them, “I love the ideas; I’m hearing such good things.” Afterward, he said different drummers had different levels of skill, but he tried to give each of them something.
“I was just trying to get the most out of it for everyone,” he said.
Elise Kenney, who plays drums and is a sophomore at Monument Mountain High School, called the workshop a great opportunity to see other students.
“There’s not a lot of jazz opportunities,” she said.
Jake Keplinger, director of band for Berkshire Hills Regional School District, said he hoped his students would meet other students in other districts, get some specific skills back, and “just try to enjoy jazz more.”
Ayden Jezak, a senior at Lenox High School, who plays drums, said, “I learned a lot about different rudiments and patterns.”
Sebastian Rodriguez, a senior at UConn, plans to play music for a living.
“Make sure you listen to each other,” Rodriguez told three keyboardists as they played together. “Try to bounce off each other.”
By having the keyboard players work in ensemble, he tried to convey to the students “how free jazz can be compared to other forms of music like classical music.”
Rodriguez said, “In jazz, you can do anything.”
Peter Lazes, a board member at Berkshires Jazz Inc., said it was important to him to extend the reach of his organization to the schools, partly because of the skills jazz requires: listening, problem solving and collaboration.
He also pointed to the legacy of jazz in the Berk-shires, particularly at the Lenox Jazz School in the late 1950s through 1960, where Dizzy Gillespie, the Oscar Peterson Trio, John Lewis and the Modern Jazz Quartet all taught.
He was delighted to learn two days after the workshop that the Gilson Family Foundation will underwrite costs for this series with a $5,000 grant and is committed to keeping it going in future years. The grant pays for instruction by both Mastroianni and his students, bus transportation for the Berkshire County students and the costs of the musical charts.
“I can’t wait for the next one,” Lazes said. “It was moving.”
Jane Kaufman is Community Voices Editor at The Berkshire Eagle.