Breakthrough Opportunities for a Vanderbilt Piano Phenom

Описание: Pasadena, California native David Rodgers came to Vanderbilt with a passion for music combined with incredible drive and discipline.

“I've always loved music, incredibly. You know loving music is almost an understatement because there's really no word to describe how much I enjoy doing what I do and I'm so lucky to be able to say that,” said Rodgers.

Now the classical and jazz piano performance major at the Vanderbilt Blair School of Music is graduating with a newly released album of jazz originals he composed, arranged and performed and a spot in the touring band of jazz and blues Grammy Award winners Keb’ Mo’ and Taj Mahal.

“I'm beyond humbled to have even been considered for this opportunity,” said Rodgers. “I was thinking about going immediately to graduate school, but when this opportunity with Keb’ Mo’ came along I thought this is this is the real deal. I mean this is apprenticeship at its finest.”

SCHOOL SUPPORT
Faculty Jeff Coffin, Ryan Middagh, Derrek Phillips, Jose Sibaja and Jeremy Wilson so strongly believe in Rodgers’ talent that they are performing on his debut album, Songs For A Generation.

“It's his drive. Absolutely, a hundred percent his drive and his direction of bringing music always first and soaking up all the influences around him,” said Middagh, director of jazz studies at Blair.

“He’s an incredible talent,” said Coffin, an instructor in jazz saxophone and musician for the Dave Matthew’s Band. “He's one of those guys we call triple threats. Somebody that can compose and arrange, someone that can play their butt off, and someone that is going to be a great teacher. That’s David.”

STARTING EARLY
Rodgers started playing classical piano at age four. He credits his engineer parents with sparking his love of music and keeping him disciplined in a directed and healthy way.

“My mom would play Mozart to me as a baby. And I remember maybe the best gift I ever got was when my dad gave me this little tape recorder. Because that was the first time I could record myself playing the piano. I loved playing it back and speeding it up or slowing it down and I was just fascinated with sound and I still am!”

But jazz is relatively new to Rodgers. He didn’t take his first formal jazz lesson until coming to Vanderbilt. He chose Blair because of its extraordinary classical curriculum as well as the liberal arts education Vanderbilt offers.

“I've always had that engineering mind, you know trying to figure things out. And Vanderbilt, with such a diverse student body, really presents such a fertile environment to not only meet a lot of really interesting people, but share ideas and that really excite me,” said Rodgers.

COMBINING BOTH LOVES
Rodgers says he likes to balance his interest in classical and jazz.

“When I'm really focused on jazz you know it's it feels so good to just come back to a classical piece and just play it and just really enjoy a Chopin doctrine or something. I don't like to think of splitting genres as they're often presented. It comes back to the idea of great sound.”

WORLDWIDE HONORS
Rodgers love of music and learning has led to amazing opportunities. Just to name of a few of his globe-trotting accomplishments, he spent the summer interviewing prominent jazz musicians in New York City as part of an immersion project on the future of jazz. He won a trip to London as after winning an international music composition contest through keyboard company ROLI. And he performed across Colombia with the Blair Jazz Quartet.

Rodgers is also the winner of the 2016 Vanderbilt University Concerto Competition and the 2016 James Miltenberger International Jazz Piano Competition.

TALENT AND HUMILITY
Teachers and fellow classmates say Rodgers balances his phenomenal talent with a generous spirit and lots of humility, which makes him a pleasure to work with.

“The beautiful thing to me is that he's one of the leaders at the school. He's a super nice guy and generous helping others,” said Coffin. “That’s pretty rare.”

Rodgers dreams with a purpose and says he always looks for ways to do more.

“I think life and improvisation are so integrated. A musician I greatly admire, Vijay Iyer, says that improvisation is the human reaction to the inevitable. And I think that's a beautiful encapsulation of how we live our lives. So for me and how I live my life, I'm always looking to just go for it.”


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