Lee Evans
Lee Evans as a professional artist has blended the performance of classical music and jazz in a highly successful manner. His piano concepts and techniques have drawn considerable praise from audiences and fellow musicians worldwide. Evans started private piano lessons at age five. He graduated from New York's High School of Music & Art, then completed degrees at New York University and Columbia University, receiving his Master of Arts and Doctor of Education from the latter. Dr. Evans has taught at the junior high, high school and college levels. He is former Chair of the Performing Arts Deparment at New York City's Pace University. Professionally, he performs with his orchestra and has acted as pianist and music coordinator for such performers as Tom Jones, Englebert Humperdinck, Carol Channing, Cat Stevens, Emerson Lake & Palmer and others. Evans strongly believes that keyboard jazz can be taught with the same authenticity and skill as traditional classical teaching. His books have succeeded in bringing to keyboard students and teachers an understanding of and feeling for jazz. His jazz series is an outgrowth of his belief that jazz can be broken down into identifiable elements and taught in a methodical, sequential manner completely compatible with classical teaching methods. At his informative and entertaining workshops, Dr. Evans explains the inner workings of jazz in illuminating detail. He demonstrates his recommended procedure for teaching jazz elements and improvisation within the classical lesson, as well as discusses the use of jazz materials for the teaching of technique and sight reading. In the process, teachers become acquainted with a wide variety of beginning, intermediate and advanced keyboard jazz repertoire and method books. Teachers attending these workshops learn how to motivate pupils with new easty-to-learn techniques and materials that teach creative musicianship--composing, notating music, harmonizing, transposing, etc. A common theme expressed by teachers who have heard Dr. Evans' workshops is that his seminars generate a renewed enthusiasm for teaching, and his methods and materials result in motivated students.
