BAAMS Summer Jazz Camp Signups Open
NORTH ADAMS, Mass. — Berkshire County young musicians ages 12 to 18 will once again have the opportunity to study this summer with a world-class music faculty, including instructors from the Juilliard School, the Manhattan School of Music, members of the "Saturday Night Live" band, and multi-Grammy Award-winning faculty members.
The Berkshires' Academy for Advanced Musical Studies (BAAMS) 8th Berkshires Summer Jazz Band Day Camp will be held from July 12-16, 2026, at BAAMS at Heritage State Park in North Adams and will feature guitarist Rodney Jones, a long-time faculty member at Juilliard and former band member with Dizzy Gillespie and James Brown, and musical director for Lena Horne.
Saxophonists Ron Blake, also a long-time member of the Juilliard faculty and a member for over two decades of NBC's "Saturday Night Live" band, will be joined by BAAMS alumnus and now faculty intern Luke Seto.
BAAMS welcomes bassist Nat Reeves, who will be joining the faculty for the first time. A former long-time professor of bass at The Hartt School of Music's Jackie McLean Institute of Jazz, Reeves has appeared on countless world stages with artists including Pat Metheny, Jackie McLean, Pharaoh Sanders, Kenny Garrett, Wynton Marsalis, and more. Three-time Grammy Award-winning pianist Dario Boente will be returning, along with drummer Tony Lewis, who has worked with Sting, Dizzy Gillespie, and others.
"After living in New York for 20 years and being a private long-time student of Freddie Hubbard and Donald Byrd, playing and recording with iconic musicians and bands like The Allman Brothers Band and Randy Brecker, and teaching thousands of music students in close to 30 NYC public schools, I decided it was time to come home and open BAAMS," said Richard Boulger, BAAMS founder, executive director, trumpeter, and North Adams native. "...We built aprogram that brings some of the finest musicians and educators in the world today to help Berkshire-based and surrounding area music students develop their abilities as young musicians."
Boulger added, "Our faculty are passing the torch to the next generation of musicians. Having two of our one-time jazz camp students, who I first met during our first Jazz Band Day Camp back in 2018, now working as BAAMS faculty interns at this summer's camp is a wonderful feeling. It is full circle. It's what it's all about-passing the torch to the younger musicians and keeping the ideas that were shared with us alive."
Students will also learn how to begin to create and compose their own original music. They will also have the opportunity to play with fellow area young music student peers throughout the Berkshires and make new friends.
This year's Jazz Camp Gala, which will showcase the students' talents, will be held at the '62 Center on the campus of Williams College, Williamstown, Mass.
For more information on how to register for the camp: berkshiresacademyams.org/berkshires-summer-jazz-day-camp.
For any additional questions or queries from the public, or for more information on becoming a sponsor or supporter of the jazz camp and BAAMS, email info@berkshiresacademyams.org or call Jane Forrestal, Director of Development and Communications, at (413) 663-4424.
