Tag Archives: Morse High School

Matthew Fogg: First Yamaha Artist In Education Endorsee

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from Accent Magazine Winter 2008, Volume 68

Yamaha is proud to announce 28-year old jazz pianist and teacher Matthew Fogg is the first endorsee under a new program titled Artists in Education. Living up to Yamaha’s long and dedicated history of supporting music education, Yamaha Corporate Artist Affairs, Inc. has developed this new program to support those devoted to both creating and teaching music.

“This program was important to us because we wanted to be able to support the world-class musicians who also dedicate their time to education,” saya Chris Gero, Vice President of Yamaha Corporate Artist Affairs, Inc. Fogg says he is thrilled to be welcomed into the Yamaha Artist family and to be recognized for both his playing and teaching, two things that hold equal importance in his life. Fogg plays and teaches with Yamaha acoustic C2 or C3 conservatory grand pianos and a U1 upright piano.

“It is an exciting new step forward for all of Yamaha as we recognize the contributions to music and music education by these new Yamaha Artist educators,” says Mike Bates, Director of Yamaha Institutional and Commercial Services. “Far from the old adage ‘those who can’t perform teach,’ these fine musicians are also straight-ahead great performers, inspiring their students to reach for the highest quality performances they can achieve…and showing them how it’s done.”

Fogg’s musical journey began as a trumpet player at the ag of ten, but after taking an interest in legendary jazz musicians Oscar Peterson, Bill Evans and Keith Jarrett during his high school years, he quickly developed a passion for jazz piano. He graduated from the University of New Hampshire with a degree in Music Education with an emphasis on piano. Following graduation Fogg embarked on a career as an educator, working as the director of choral music at Morse High School in Bath, Maine. Ever drawn to the world of creating and performing, Fogg maintained an active schedule as an artit as well.

“It was never a question of either/or or me. I always wanted to be a teacher, but playing came very natural to me as well,” says Fogg. “Ultimately I ended up with two seperate career paths that were joined by the love of music. I feel like being an educator complements being an artist becaue it leads me through a constant process of discovery.”

While at UNH, Fogg began a musical colaboration with Voclist Nicole Hajj, and it was with her that he recorded Live at The Azure Cafe, an album that garnered glowing revoews and recieved airplay in numerous states and half a dozen countries. In 2005, he was asked to join an impressive roster of artists performing for jazz legend Clark Terry’s 85th birthday celebration. In May 2006, he released This is What You Want, an album that allowed Fogg to experiment with vintage keyboards and embraced a wide range of musical styles. As with Azure, it was greeted with consistently positive reviews and earned him special praise for his keyboard and arranging skills.

Fogg continues to educate, currently spending his daylight hours as the Music Education/Choral Music Director for the Lyman Moore Middle School in Portland, ME. He is also the adjunct professor at Bowdoin College and at the University of Maine in Augusta.

Thumbs Up — Play The Jazz, Wear The Blues

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from The Times Record

Strike up the band for Matt Fogg, the former Morse High School choral director, for becoming the first recipient of the Yamaha company’s Artists in Education endorsement. The Jazz Times reported last week that Fogg, 28 and now a teacher at the Lyman Moore Middle School in Portland, will help launch the program devoted to teaching and creating music.

Based on his achievements at Morse after assuming the baton for the choral program there in 2001, Fogg brings a perfect mix of skills to the new initiative.

The creativity it takes to perform as a jazz pianist, which Fogg does when he’s not teaching, fortifies the leadership, diversity and dedication that remain prerequisites for teaching music in schools. “I want to change people’s mind about what it means to be a high school musician,” Fogg told The Times Record in a 2003 interview. It’s about stretching the ears of the students, which will stretch the ears of the audiences.”

The skills required to play an instrument or sing complex chorale arrangements translate well to other academic disciplines. Yet band and chorus don’t merit much respect from a state educational hierarchy that seems intent on defining Essential Programs and Services in the narrowest possible way.

Perhaps Fogg’s national recognition will tune up that dissonant note.

The Jazzman of Orr’s Island: Matt Fogg Steps Quietly Into The Limelight

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from Coastal Journal – Issue 34: August 25, 2005 by Earl Swinson

HARPSWELL – Can you remember the day your life’s path changed?

Jazz pianist Matt Fogg of Orr’s Island can.

Fogg’s CD, Live at the Azure Cafe, recorded with vocalist Nicole Hajj and a quartet of backing musicians, has garnered such glowing reviews – Good Times magazine said it “could be the finest disc of any genre produced in Maine this year” – that one might assume the piano and/or jazz has been his passion for as long as he could remember.

Not so, according to the extremely affable and almost alarmingly modest 26-year old.

Fogg, who hails from Biddeford, turned to music because “I wasn’t very good at sports. I was awkward and overweight, and my parents got tired of seeing me in tears every week from football or Little League.

“But in the fourth grade, I saw my school’s fifth grade band concert, and I can remember the day very clearly. They were doing the theme from M*A*S*H, and they weren’t doing very good, but I thought it was the greatest thing I’d ever heard.”

Fogg said his parents were always very supportive (even of his less than stellar athletic career), so his father took him to a pawn shop, and Matt came home with a trumpet. He’s not sure why he chose a trumpet, but does recall that he wanted to play in the school band, and that limited his instrumental options. Matt joined the Middle School band but wasn’t exactly another Louis Armstrong.

“I was truly terrible at it,” he laughs, “but fortunately that was not a harbinger.”

He continued playing the trumpet into high school, eventually auditioning for a spot in the Southern Maine Music Festival. He didn’t make it, but as he was leaving the building, he heard the jazz auditions in another room.

“I poked my head in,” Matt recalls, “and they were having a great time, and I told myself, ‘I gotta get hip to this.’”

He noticed there was no trumpet players evident and knew that the piano was a preferred instrument for jazz ensembles, and he realized it might be time for a change.

Setting the trumpet aside

“We had a piano at home and I used to bang on it and even had about a summer’s worth of lessons in elementary school,” Matt says. “And the day after seeing the jazz auditions, I went to my hip band director (Terry White) and asked, ‘What do I have to do to get good enough to play piano for them?’” White led him to instructor Alex Johns of Portland and, at the age of 16, Matt Fogg began his piano playing career – and made the Music Festival the very next year.

Now – ten years later – Fogg’s technical ability on the ivories is nothing short of astonishing, as evidenced on the Azure Cafe recording. But for many listeners and reviewers, it is his talent as an arranger (JazzNow says, “He is an exceptionally gifted arranger, capable of making the oldest standards sound contemporary and fresh”) that sets Fogg apart. While admitting he seems to have an ear for harmony, Matt says his approach to music and arranging can be traced to a music history class at the University of New Hampshire, where he continued his musical education after graduating from Biddeford High School.

“The teacher was a real purist,” he says, “and he asked if we could name any good 20th century composers. A friend said, ‘John Williams’ (the legendary composer for Star Wars and many other Hollywood blockbusters), and the teacher just ridiculed him.

“After that,” Matt continues, “I decided I was not going to deny the music I like.

“I’m usually influenced by pop music,” he says, naming sources from 60′s Motown to Brian Wilson of the Beach Boys to the 80′s Toto to Ben Folds, who Fogg likens to a “modern Burt Bacharach.”

“I like to take a few pop hooks,” he says, “and incorporate them into my arrangements to make the songs more accessible.

“I also like to explore the way certain sonorities can actually elicit a physical response – anything to elevate the mood.”

It was at UNH that Fogg met fellow student Hajj of Andover, Mass. Hajj was a classical piano major and had no real experience singing jazz and she asked Fogg to back her for a school recording project.

Discovering a voice

“That’s when I realized she could sing,” Matt says, and he began doing her vocal arrangements. Before long they had compiled an extensive repertoire of songs, and by senior year they were performing together commercially – Fogg citing the Colony Hotel in Kennebunkport as their first steady gig.

The partnership has continued to this day, but both have also had to take on “day jobs” to supplement their jazz careers. For Fogg, that meant teaching, both as a private piano instructor and as a public school teacher. After student teaching in Old Town, he knew he wanted to teach at the high school level. He sent out the usual spate of applications but was invited for just one interview – at Morse High School. That turned out to be enough, as he was hired as the school’s choral director in 2001, a position he kept for three years.

“It was a great experience,” he recalls, “and I tried to do as many things with it as I could (including starting a Music Boosters program).”

But ultimately, it wasn’t enough, Matt realized.

“I was actually pretty depressed,” he admits, “and it was because for 25 years I had done what I was supposed to do. But having a job, and a credit card, and buying things – it wasn’t working for me.

“I knew I had to do what I loved, and that was playing music.”

But something else was happening at the same time.

While still at Morse, Fogg was hired as the Sacred Arts Coordinator at the Bath United Church of Christ on Congress Street. It was initially a part-time position, but his enthusiasm for spreading the joys of music just took over, and as he says, “There was so much stuff to do, that it became a full-time position.”

So he left Morse in 2004 to concentrate on his duties at the church, which included directing the choir, establishing a coffeehouse and fostering musical education at the church and in the community. Fogg’s work at the church led to his introduction to Taize, a monastic community in Southern France which was established to promote a reconciliation of Christian beliefs and practices; and he has incorporated that goal into his work in Bath, offering Taize services as part of his education program.

“One of the features of the service is sitting together and singing these very simple, almost chant-like songs,” he notes. “At the very least, you learn to relax for that one hour.”

But even with this new undertaking and his continuing performing career, there were still a few spare hours left in Matt’s weekly calendar, so he became a jazz instructor at Bowdoin College and a director of the Jewish Youth Chorus of Maine through the Jewish Community Center.

“I am a Christian,” Matt continues, “but even beyond that, I’m a student of Faith, and I find that I continue to learn from both churches.

“It all helps me in my dealing with people, and adds an element of spirituality in my approach to music. Music is the common denominator for so many amazing things.”

The church is also where Matt met Steve McKay of The Hermitage on Orr’s Island, and he credits McKay with helping him get where he is today.

A mentor builds confidence

“He’s been such a great influence on my attitude,” Fogg says. “He convinced me I was good enough to do this, to reach people.”

And it was that new-found attitude that culminated in the release of Live at the Azure Cafein January of this year. The CD was recorded October 28, 2004 at the Azure Cafe in Freeport and was produced by Fogg and mixed and mastered by Steve Drown of Portland.

“The CD was really several years in the making,” Fogg says, “and yet it was going to be a one-shot live recording, so I really wanted it to sound great.”

Backed by Shawn Boissonneault on drums, Lucas Cantor on guitar, Andy Rice on bass and with a guest appearance by clarinetist extraordinaire Brad Terry, Fogg got his wish.

This from JazzNow: “The CD is pure delight from start to finish, full of fresh musical surprises from the band and Hajj’s wonderful voice.

“But what truly puts it over the top are Fogg’s playing and arrangements.

“The music is highly accessible, rich without being overbearing with a modern sensibility that will appeal to a broad spectrum of listeners.

“This is a local group deserving of far wider recognition. Let’s hope they get it.

“If you live in the area or are traveling through New England, you should definitely check them out.”

And from Good Times: “Live at the Azure Cafe is certainly a treat for contemporary jazz lovers – but is tuneful and accessible enough for music fans of any stripe to enjoy.

“Azure Cafe proves these jazz musicians as talented as any performing today.

“It’s only a matter of time till this disc – and these musicians – break through on a national level.”

And what does Mr. Fogg think?

“It took me five months to really like it” he says.

The CD can be purchased at Magnolia in Bath, Bull Moose in Brunswick and elsewhere, at Borders in Portland, or through Fogg’s web site, www.mattfogg.com (which also includes photos, a biography, reviews, and a calendar of his upcoming appearances).

What about the future?

While he will continue to perform with Hajj (as well as solo or with the quartet, depending on the venue), Fogg is currently working on a new CD project with new musicians, vocalist Cheri Gaudet-Grimmett and guitarist Scott Morgan. This time around, Matt is playing original tunes, and as he says, “My arranging has led me to being able to write melodies; but when it comes to lyrics, nothing happens. But Cheri is a great lyricist.”

He’s also expanding his instrumental inventory for the upcoming CD, playing a Hammond B3 organ, a Fender Rhodes piano, and “other vintage keyboards.”

Anything else?

He’ll keep playing live (he does his own booking), keep teaching; continue his church work, and anything else that piques his interest.

“I’ll keep doing what I do,” he says, “and taking it as it comes.

“It’s really all about taking what you’re given, and giving of yourself to others.”

Creating Student Musicians – One Note At A Time

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from The Times Record; January 29, 2003 by Christopher Cousins

Morse High School’s two 20-something music teachers may have been untested rookies when they arrived, but the respect they’ve gained from the students, teachers and parents in their 18 months here is universal.

Both came to Morse in September 2001.

Anthony Marro, 25, the band director, runs efficient, methodical rehearsals that have his student-musicians sometimes playing just a few notes over and over again until they’re perfect. By singing the notes – “da ba la la, da” for example – stomping his foot, snapping and clapping, Marro projects exactly the sound he wants. When the students succeed, he praises them. When they don’t, he tells them so.

“He knows what he wants from us,” said Celeste Bessey, a sophmore trombone player from Bath. “He’s still learning things, but we like him. Hopefully, he’ll have many years here.”

Matthew Fogg, 24, the chorus director, is more prone to alternately sitting at the music room’s grand piano – his forte, so to speak – and jumping up in front of a group of singers to help with pronunciation and phrasing. On a Bach piece during a recent rehearsal, Fogg spent several minutes teaching the students how to say the words correctly in German, breaking a one-syllable word into three sounds. Before the students begin, Fogg sings their notes for them – even though some of the parts, particularly the sopranos, are far out of his vocal range. To say Fogg is full of gusto is a half-truth, said his students.

“He’s got incredible energy,” said sophmore Shelby Kaplan of Woolwich. “I haven’t had a chorus director like him before. He makes me look forward to chorus.”

The student said both teachers are worthy replacements for their predecessors, David Aines in band and Wendy Ulmer in chorus. Aines, the 2001 recipient of the Dr. Patricia Ames Distinguished Teacher Award, moved away with his family, and Ulmer switched to teaching English at Morse.

Fogg and Marro have common goals for the music program, which start and end with giving the students the best music education possible. Along the way, they hope to expand the students’ musical tastes across the genres, classical to contemporary.

Both lead musically active lives outside the classroom. Fogg moonlights as a jazz pianist, playing with a variety of ensembles, including full bands and sometimes solo vocalists. Marro, a woodwind player is a saxophonist for the Terry White Big Band among other groups, and also writes his own songs.

Marro, of Portland, attended South Portland High School before earning a music education degree from the University of Southern Maine. Fogg, who lives in Bath, attended Biddeford High School and earned his music education degree from the University of New Hampshire in Durham. Both were hired in Bath at a starting teacher’s salary, about $25,000 a year. Both are still single, and they admit they’re still adjusting to their new careers.

“You’ve got to earn their respect,” Marro said of the students. “It can’t be given. It has to be earned. They’ve learned that although they liked the way Mr. Aines did things, my ways work too.”

Since they joined the school, the two new music teachers have started a music theory class and have plans to add a keyboard laboratory, but perhaps their biggest accomplishment was the formation of a new music booster group to help pay for what the department budget can’t afford.

This is especially valuable now, said Morse Principal Paul Pendleton, because of the budget situation in the city, which last year forced all departments to cut spending proposals by hundreds of thousands of dollars. This year, all department heads were instructed to submit proposals with no increases, but Pendelton said that didn’t dampen the spirits of Fogg or Marro to expand and enhance their programs.

“They both have a tremendous knowledge of music and they both work well with young people,” said Pendleton. “They’ve got energy and a plan for where they want the program to go; they’re not just going through the motions. They’re both real favorites of the other faculty. They’re very well liked and respected.”

The students agree.

“He makes it exciting to be in chorus,” said freshman Calista Young of Fogg. “He’s great at teaching us how to do challenging stuff.”

“Mr. Fogg won’t let you just get by and sing mediocre,” said Kaplan. “It shows maturity that we’re performing things you don’t hear a lot of other high school students singing.”

Trombone player Petra Hamilton-Denison, a junior, says she has never had a band teacher like Marro. Much to her regret, Hamilton-Denison and her family moved last week to a town outside the reach of the Bath school department.

“Mr. Marro is very serious about music,” she said. “He knows so much about music that he takes it apart in sections. It’s not so easy but he makes it so you can learn the pieces and it’s fun. It’s the best class I have and I’ll miss it.”

Sally Davis of West Bath, who has two daughters in Bath schools and who is a member of the music boosters club, said she was worried not so long ago about the prospect of Aines and Ulmer leaving and the effect it would have on the music department.

“I was sitting at the spring concert before they came and thinking how I pitied the people coming in because they had such big shoes to fill,” said Davis. “They’ve more than met my expectations. They’ve delivered a lot of energy and enthusiasm into the program.”

“I want to change people’s mind about what it means to be a high school musician,” said Fogg. “It’s about stretching the ears of the students, which will stretch the ears of the audience.”