Liam Batteau reports on his first week of attending a summer immersion Jazz Workshop at Stanford University. After a long flight with multiple connections, he finally arrived! Liam states that this was “the farthest I’ve ever been from home and the longest amount of time.”
“Little did I know that this week would divert every one of my expectations. The second I got there, I knew this camp would be very different from last summer, it seemed to be run on a very tight wound clock. The first time I heard the instructors, it seemed like their playing touched me very deeply. I was engaged and intrigued by their playing, I was inspired. After the playing, we were treated to lunch,” Liam reports.
Liam began making friends with the other students, and says it distracted him from thinking about being home.
“The one thing that brought me to a home away from home was the chance to jam out with musicians that I didn’t know, that I had never talked to. We connected through our music. That night in my dorm, I got to meet the personalities of the people I was playing with. The drummer was named Jasper and we met playing basketball and it was fun. We all just kinda connected and made each other laugh. That night, I went back to my dorm and went to bed nervous for the next day, but I knew in the back of my head that everything was gonna get better,” Liam says.
“As the week went on, I became closer with basically everyone that came up to talk to me. There was an event called ‘coho’ which happened every night and it was a jazz coffee house. It was so much fun being able to listen to good music and being able to talk to new people. There were so many different types of people from different backgrounds. I made two friends who were born and raised in Switzerland. Jamming out was also a thing that helped me make friends. After the first couple of days, the people I played with were the people I connected with,” Liam adds.
As the week progressed, Liam felt better about being so far from home, and felt the workshop was helping him become a better musician.
“I started to feel as if this campus was home too. The best moment was when me and the piano player in my combo wrote the song we played live Friday at the concert. It felt so cool to take a piece of music I helped write and turn it into something bigger,” Liam explains.
“Throughout the week we played volleyball, jammed out, had DJ sets, walked around, and all connected through music. I missed home, but I learned how happy I can be away from it. The final performance summed up the whole week. We got to play music I loved, that I crafted, and I got to be a performer with people who shared the love for music I did,” Liam adds.
Week Two — Networking and making music!
Liam says that his second and final week started off slow. He began developing a routine while dealing with feelings of homesickness.
“Those feelings, however, were different then any of the other times I’d become homesick. It felt as if I was creating a tiny little home with the people around me. I’d created this group of friends who all became friends with one another, and we all wanted to play music and learn music together,” Liam explains.
“Institute week was unlike any other week of music I’d ever experienced. It was set up with a ‘choose-your-own-adventure’ style schedule. There were new faces, both teachers and students. I was nervous that I wasn’t going to be good enough to keep up. One thing I’ve learned throughout my musical journey is that doubting yourself makes the glory of proving yourself so much better. It was odd having all of these faces on top of my already established group of friends,” Liam says.
Liam decided to spend time this week networking with peers and instructors to help further his career goals.
“This idea of networking was a new way of thinking. I’m helping my future by making friends. The first few days were hard. I didn’t feel like I was really leaving a good impression on many faculty, not by my actions, more of I didn’t think my playing was blowing their socks off. I decided to hold out on that and wait for a more personal approach to getting my name out there,” Liam explains.
“Throughout this whole week, I felt like I really was getting better. I had this reignited drive for this instrument I loved. Playing with my friends and recording music was a big key in helping me feel this way. My friend Tahina, who is a drummer, and my friend Victor, all got into a practice room, laid down two chords and made a whole song in 5 minutes. This feeling of making something of little to nothing was electrifying. These people wanted to make music with me, and that felt so good. We all made plans that when we got home, we would all try and stay in contact with each other and make more music together,” Liam adds.
The week ended with an exciting adventure, where Liam collaborated on and performed a song with his instructor.
“My combo this week was a whole new adventure; our instructor was Harish Ragavahn. He was an incredible bass player. He really taught me very helpful skills as a bass player. His way of teaching was very unique, and I loved it. He allowed me to create a song for the combo, but he didn’t leave it at that. He took that song and made it intricate, and it was so interesting to see how his mind worked,” Liams reports.
“At the end of the week, the combo came together, and both of our pieces were solid. The finale performance was sentimental for me. This was me showing all the growth I’ve gone through these past two weeks. For once in my life, I was proud of everything I accomplished. Saying goodbye hurts, but meeting those people in the first place changed my life. I am so grateful to have been given the opportunity to see a life outside of the small window I live in,” Liam says.
We are happy to hear that your time at the jazz workshop helped you gain confidence and grow as a musician. Great work, Liam!
>> Read Liam Batteau’s Final Report (PDF File, 110 KB).
>> Learn about the other students’ experiences in the GFF Scholarship Program.
