The Tuscia In Jazz Seminars are an extraordinary chance to meet world’s greatest jazzmen and to become better musicians and better humans. The classes are open to everyone who mean to improve his knowledge of one ore more instruments in the jazz music field, and will take place all day-long with instrument lessons, ensamble music lessons and classes of theory and harmony. At the end of the seminars the students will be given a certificate of attendance. With the Tuscia In Jazz’s teaching format, a single enrolment fee allows to attend every single instrument class and every concert with no extra costs. At the end of the summer camp, during the Night In Jazz, students will play on stage with their teachers.

Antonio Sanchez

Antonio Sánchez was born in Mexico City and started playing drums at the age of five. By his teen years he had already begun playing professionally. He attained a degree in classical piano from the National Conservatory in 1993 and then moved to Boston, Massachusetts, to study at Berklee College of Music. After he graduated Magna Cum Laude in Jazz Studies, Sanchez obtained a scholarship for a Masters in Jazz Improvisation at Boston’s New England Conservatory. While Sanchez was still at the Conservatory in 1997, his teacher, Danilo Perez, recommended him to Paquito D’Rivera for the drum chair in Dizzy Gillespie’s United Nations Orchestra, which led to him touring with the orchestra. Later in 1997 Perez invited Sanchez to be a part of his acoustic trio which resulted in extensive touring, and the recording of the Grammy nominated album “Motherland”. The tour resulted in his being heard by legendary guitarist Pat Metheny who invited Sanchez to join the Pat Metheny Group as its drummer after a series of auditions.
The group recorded two albums with Sanchez. The first one, Speaking of Now, won a Grammy Award in 2003 in the “Best Contemporary Jazz Album” category. A DVD under the same name documenting the tour has been released. The second effort, The Way Up, was released in January 2005. Sanchez has been a part of various quartets and trios under Metheny’s direction. The Pat Metheny Trio (Metheny on guitar, Sanchez on drums, and Christian McBride on bass) released Day Trip in January 2008 to wide acclaim amongst jazz critics. In 2007 he recorded his first solo effort, Migration. The album includes Pat Metheny, Chick Corea, Chris Potter, David Sanchez and Scott Colley. All About Jazz called it “One of the best debuts of 2007.” Sanchez said of the album: “I didn’t want people to say this is a drummer’s album…I wanted it to be something that could be from any instrumentalist. I thought in terms of music, not how many solos I got and if I blew enough chops or not. I wanted the music to be very melodic and accessible and with a lot of really good interplay.”
Antonio has made New York City his home since 1999 and joined the Faculty of New York University in 2006.

Francisco Mela

Acclaimed Cuban-born drummer Francisco Mela is a favorite among jazz’s elite instrumentalists, including Joe Lovano, John Scofield, JoAnne Brackeen, Kenny Barron, and McCoy Tyner, all of whom cite his charisma, sophistication, and life-affirming spirit as an extension of his incredible talents as a composer and drummer. Francisco Mela was born in 1968 in Bayamo, Cuba. Inspired by his artistic father and the explosive sounds of Irakere, Mela immersed himself in Cuban traditional music and the jazz being played and performed in his hometown. Mela moved to Boston in 2000 to pursue a degree at the acclaimed Berklee College of Music. The faculty quickly recognized that Mela had much to offer students and promptly hired him to teach at the school. At the end of 2001, Mela began touring around the US, Europe and Canada as a member of Jane Bunnette and Spirits of Havana, giving workshops and clinics at various universities. At the end of the tour, the group went to the studio to record Cuban Odyssey, which was nominated for a Grammy award. Fellow Berklee faculty member and world-renown saxophonist Joe Lovano heard Mela and was immediately impressed, hiring him soon thereafter to play in his quartet. Since 2005, Mela has been an integral part of Joe Lovano’s quartet and his new group “Us Five,” a two-drummer quintet that features Lovano and Mela with bassist Esperanza Spalding, pianist James Weidman and drummer Otis Brown III. In 2007, Mela’s unique style and sound was noticed by piano legend Kenny Barron. Mela joined Barron’s trio in 2007, performing and touring all over the world until late 2009. In 2009, Mela was tapped by jazz legend McCoy Tyner to join his trio. Mela’s first CD, Melao, featuring Joe Lovano, George Garzone, Anat Cohen, and Lionel Loueke, among others, was released in 2006 and called one of the best albums of the year by All About Jazz. Mela’s second release as a leader, Cirio, was recorded over a week-long period at the Blue Note for Half Note Records in 2008. The recording featured an all-star cast of Mark Turner, Jason Moran, Larry Grenadier and Lionel Loueke. Mela’s latest project, Cuban Safari, is an amalgamation of his favorite bands that inspired him to become a drummer – Miles Davis’ fusion group featuring Chick Corea and Keith Jarrett, Weather Report, and the Latin-jazz super group Irakere. In the Fall of 2011, Mela will release a studio recording, Tree of Life, on Half Note Records featuring his band Cuban Safari and guest vocalist Esperanza Spalding. Whether it’s with Cuban Safari, his trio, quintet, or as a sideman in the groups of McCoy Tyner or Joe Lovano, the result is the same – Francisco Mela provides a passionate, thrilling display of exuberance and vivacity from the drum chair that is as pleasing to listen to as it is to watch.

Marcus Gilmore

Drummer, born in 1987, Marcus Gilmore is one of the most important drummers in the inexhaustible recent U.S. jazz scene. Grandson of Roy Haynes, he graduated from the High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts in Manhattan, before getting a musical education from the informal leaders of the groups with which he started playing very young, trumpeter Graham Haynes as his uncle , or Steve Coleman. He has collaborated among others with Chick Corea, Gonzalo Rubalcaba, Natalie Cole, Clark Terry, Nicholas Payton, John Patitucci, Cassandra Wilson, Steve Coleman, Wynton Marsalis and the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, Ravi Coltrane, Terence Blanchard, Vijay Iyer, Roy Hargrove Raul Midon, Ambrose Akinmusire, Yosvany Terry and Gretchen Parlato. It ‘was repeatedly the subject of several articles in publications such as The New York Times, DownBeat Magazine and Modern Drummer.