Mike Eben spent his career in music education. He was a Muhlenberg school district music teacher. Now semi-retired he continues to teach part time at Albright College in addition to offering private sax, flute and clarinet lessons. He also serves on the Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest Education Committee. The committee helps fill some gaps that music budget cuts may present in schools. As a result of the Jazz Fest we now have the All County Jazz Band and the Jazz Vocal Group. The Education Committee has been conducting music workshops every year in conjunction with the Berks Jazz Fest and they have had a varying amount of success. This year they are doing things differently. Mike Eben says there will a full day of events devoted to workshops. Educators will come in and host workshops, profession musicians will be performing and jazz vendors will be setting up shop. This will be all day at the new DoubleTree in downtown Reading on Saturday April 2. There will also be performances by local school groups. Mike Eben says Jazz is the root of many forms of music and provides a student the opportunity to see how chords and scales work which is the basis of all music.

What does a music program or workshop opportunity do for a student? Mike Eben says “It changes a student because there has to be that commitment. You can’t be successful in it if you aren’t into it 100%. You have to practice if you want to maintain your chops. You have to listen to it if you want to sound authentic”

He adds that most kids playing music in schools aren’t going to go into music but they will carry that music with them wherever they go. Mike and the education committee of Boscov’s Berks Jazz Fest hope to develop a robust group of jazz music listeners because that will keep the jazz music alive.