LEARNING FROM PRACTICE
Masterclasses
Masterclasses that bring artists and composers into educational and cultural institutions, where their work becomes the starting point for a shared process of listening, analysis and making.
Inside the Work
Every artist develops ways of listening, thinking and making that are not always visible in the finished work.
La casa de nadie Masterclasses begin with these processes. Scores, recordings and musical examples are examined together with the artists who created them, tracing the decisions behind a composition, an arrangement or a performance.
Each programme is centred on a particular body of work and developed with the host institution in relation to its students, ensemble and educational setting.
Explore technology-driven creativity with hands-on instruction in:
MASTERCLASS
Big Band Arrangement — From Lead Sheet to Full Score
An arrangement begins with an act of reading: deciding what to retain, what to transform and how the original material might be heard through an ensemble.
Led by composer and arranger José Pino, this masterclass follows an arrangement from lead sheet to full jazz ensemble. Melody, harmony and form provide the starting point; voicing, orchestration, texture and rhythm-section writing determine how the music is distributed across seventeen instruments.
A melody may remain in a single voice or expand across a section. The same chord can take on a different character depending on how it is voiced between reeds and brass. The rhythm section can articulate the written material, alter its direction or open it to improvisation. Scores and recordings are read and heard side by side, connecting what appears on the page with what happens in the ensemble. Participants follow these decisions as the arrangement takes shape, from its initial material to the completed score.
The masterclass concludes in rehearsal and concert, with the host institution’s big band performing compositions and arrangements by José Pino.
Areas of work
Lead sheets and harmonic treatment
Voicing for reeds and brass
Rhythm-section writing
Form and texture
Orchestration
Notation and score preparation
Who it's for
Students and musicians with a basic knowledge of music theory. Previous experience in big band arranging is not required.
Available to universities, conservatories, music schools, festivals and other cultural institutions.
Format
Content and duration are developed with the host institution according to its ensemble and educational programme.
Available in English, Spanish, German and Italian.
Instructor
This masterclass is led by José Pino, an Ecuadorian multi-instrumentalist, composer, arranger and music educator based in Zurich, Switzerland. His teaching draws on his work as a performer and composer, bringing musical ideas into practice through listening, playing and exploration. Brazilian music holds a distinct place in his musical formation, shaped by years of study with leading
musicians, including guitarist and arranger Fernando Corrêa of the Orquestra Jazz Sinfônica Brasil.
Pino's compositions and arrangements encompass traditional and contemporary music, jazz and electroacoustic work. They have been presented from Cuba to Shanghai and across Europe, in settings ranging from solo performance to full jazz orchestra.
For institutions
Available worldwide, each masterclass is developed with the host institution, bringing the artist’s work into direct relation with its students, faculty and programme.
Enquire about a masterclass >
From the classroom in Quito
José Pino’s big-band arranging masterclass brought students and teachers together at Ecuador’s Conservatorio Nacional de Música.
Read the story in our Art Magazine >