Improvisation
(06/15 - 06/22, 2025)
Unlock Your Creativity - Find Your Own Pathway into Improvising Freely
What You’ll Explore:
Two Tracks Are Offered: Beginner and Professional, depending on your level of experience with your instrument.
Basic improvisation
Listening and hearing: Two elemental skills of the improviser
Tools, notes, scales, modes, and gestures.
Finding your individual pathway into improvising freely
Solo and accompanying Skills: Becoming part of the fabric of a song
Sing through your instrument
Exercises in audiation
Hearing the music between your ears and getting your instrument to respond and replicate
Call and response
Integrated with daily wellness and mindfulness sessions, our improvisation students enjoy a holistic experience.
Meet the Faculty
Jeremy Cohen
Founder
Founder, Quartet San Francisco
Biography
Jeremy Cohen’s electrifying violin performances have earned him nationwide accolades. Classically-trained and a student of Itzhak Perlman and Anne Crowden, Cohen’s eclectic style reflects his respect for a wide range of violinists from Perlman and Fritz Kreisler to Joe Venuti and Eddie South. Cohen has performed as soloist with numerous orchestras including the Virginia Symphony, the California Symphony, the Oakland East Bay Symphony, and the Reno Philharmonic. His recording credits include motion picture and television soundtracks including The Dukes of Hazzard and Jane Fonda’s Dollmaker, and as concertmaster on recordings with Linda Ronstadt, Ray Charles, Aaron Neville, Howard Keel and Cleo Laine. He appeared on Carlos Santana’s Grammy-winning CD Supernatural, Santana’s Shaman, and the original Star Wars compilation CD with John Williams. On the stage he was the solo violinist in San Francisco’s two-year production of Forever Tango and toured nationally with the Broadway production of The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas. He has toured and recorded with the Turtle Island String Quartet.
Jeremy Cohen founded the pioneering string group, Quartet San Francisco, and has toured extensively with the group throughout the United States, China, Japan, Italy, Germany, and South Korea since 2001. Quartet San Francisco was awarded the Grand Prize in the First International Tango Competition at the Argentine Consulate in New York in 2004. QSF’s CDs have garnered seven Grammy nominations since 2006 in the categories of Best Classical Crossover, Best Engineered Classical, and Best Instrumental Composition. Cohen composes and arranges for the group and is in demand as a composer/arranger for other ensembles as well, including the Marin Symphony, the Sun Valley Music Festival Bronfman Chamber Music Series, San Jose Chamber Orchestra, San Francisco Chamber Orchestra, the San Francisco Bay Area’s Peninsula Symphony, the Reading Philharmonic, the Reno Philharmonic, the Del Sol String Quartet, the Bridge Virtuosi, and the San Francisco Symphony.
A faculty member of the Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles (1997 to 2006) and visiting artist at the Frost Music School, University of Miami (2015 and 2016), Cohen also taught for six years at the Stanford Jazz Workshop. He has recorded three CDs with his ViolinJazz quartet on the Violinjazz Recordings (Violinjazz and A Taste of Violinjazz) and Dorian Sono Luminus labels (The Music of Eddie South). In 2004 he released Jeremy Cohen and Friends Celebrate Joe Venuti –100 Years, his DVD tribute to the great jazz violinist. Cohen publishes original works and arrangements for string players on his Violinjazz Publications imprint, many of which are accompanied by online tracks and YouTube videos.
Program Fee
Residential
1-week Programs: $1600 | Educator or Group Rate: $1500/person
Residential rates include all the following during your program:
Tuition,
A single occupancy room,
Three nutritious and delicious vegetarian meals every day, and
Integrated mindfulness and wellness practices (check Program Features for details).
Limited scholarships available; check your eligibility at Application.
Non-Residential
For local residents, please inquire non-residential options via info@oneheartinstitute.org
For more information, see: Schedule, Scholarships, 2025 Summer Facilities
The Saxophone Immersion Program is a part of the larger summer music and mindfulness programs we offer. The experience is enriched by daily mindfulness practices (Taiji, meditation, holistic lifestyle), one-on-one and group classes, individual practice time, plant-based diet, and a supportive community.
Contact Us
info@oneheartinstitute.org | 707-376-8731