Drury Grad Trumpeter & 'SNL' Saxophonist Holding High School Jazz Clinics

Richard Boulger, right, and Alex Foster are presenting a series of jazz clinics for students in Pittsfield, Cheshire and North Adams.

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Drury High School graduate, professional trumpeter, and recording artist Richard Boulger will join "Saturday Night Live's" saxophonist Alex Foster to present a series of clinics for Berkshire County band students.

Boulger, who has studied under trumpet legends such as Freddie Hubbard and Donald Byrd and has recorded with musical greats such as the Allman Brothers Band and Randy Brecker, has a long career of educating musicians of all ages throughout New York City and New England.

The clinics are taking place next Wednesday and Thursday at Pittsfield and Taconic high schools and Reid and Herberg middle schools in Pittsfield, Hoosac Valley HIgh School in Cheshire and Drury High School.

The clinics will mostly focus on technique, instrument basics, and familiarizing students more with their instruments.   

"One of the things I try to impart on students when I teach, no matter what age, is that the instrument is really an amplifier for what you are hearing and feeling as a musician," Boulger said. "We hope at the end of the day kids will learn how to cultivate a relationship with their musical instruments as a vehicle for them to express themselves."

Boulger graduated from Drury in 1984 and studied jazz at the University of Hartford, later earning his master's from Rutgers.

He said he will run a clinic for brass players and Foster, who has recorded and performed with music greats such as Herbie Hancock, Aretha Franklin, Miles Davis, Eddie Van Halen, Aerosmith, Elton John, and Paul McCartney among others, will run a clinic for the woodwind players.

Boulger said he hopes to not only inspire kids to take music more seriously but to show them that music can help in other aspects of their lives.

"The goal at the end of the day is to not just have kids become musicians but to introduce them to the possibility that playing a musical instrument is a real positive vehicle to open up other experiences they already have in their life such as their class work," Boulger said.

Boulger said the clinics are sponsored by musical instrument manufacturer RS Berkeley, which has made efforts over the years "to get instruments in kids' hands" and "raise music programs to a better place."

He added that he hopes they can "open up student's ears" and instill a want to be open to all kinds of music.

Boulger said he and Foster will be joining the band Gruppo Mondo on Wednesday, Sept. 30, at the Rainbow Restaurant on First Street in Pittsfield for those who want to hear them play. Show starts at 7:30 and runs to 10:30.

Cost, Access to NBCTC High Among Concerns North Berkshire Residents

By Tammy DanielsiBerkshires Staff
06:15PM / Thursday, April 25, 2024

Adams Select Chair Christine Hoyt, NBCTC Executive Director David Fabiano and William Solomon, the attorney representing the four communities, talk after the session. 

NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Public access channels should be supported and made more available to the public — and not be subject to a charge.

 

More than three dozen community members in-person and online attended the public hearing  Wednesday on public access and service from Spectrum/Charter Communications. The session at City Hall was held for residents in Adams, Cheshire, Clarksburg and North Adams to express their concerns to Spectrum ahead of another 10-year contract that starts in October.

 

Listening via Zoom but not speaking was Jennifer Young, director state government affairs at Charter.

 

One speaker after another conveyed how critical local access television is to the community and emphasized the need for affordable and reliable services, particularly for vulnerable populations like the elderly. 

 

"I don't know if everybody else feels the same way but they have a monopoly," said Clarksburg resident David Emery. "They control everything we do because there's nobody else to go to. You're stuck with with them."

 

Public access television, like the 30-year-old Northern Berkshire Community Television, is funded by cable television companies through franchise fees, member fees, grants and contributions.

 

Spectrum is the only cable provider in the region and while residents can shift to satellite providers or streaming, Northern Berkshire Community Television is not available on those alternatives and they may not be easy for some to navigate. For instance, the Spectrum app is available on smart televisions but it doesn't include PEG, the public, educational and governmental channels provided by NBCTC.