Jazz Students Workshop New Piece With Composer

Hopkins has been involved at Rivers for about a decade, first connecting with the school as a performer at the Jazz Festival before returning for stints teaching trumpet lessons and jazz composition. He brings an impressive resume, with career highlights that include working with the Billy Maxted and Buddy Rich orchestras as an arranger and jazz trumpet player; being a performer and arranger on RCA Records; and performing with Frank Sinatra, Dizzy Gillespie, Gladys Knight, and many more. Hopkins is also a professor at Berklee College of Music, where he has taught in the harmony and jazz composition department for over 50 years. Rivers Jazz Director Philippe Crettien, a Berklee alum, first met Hopkins as a student in one of Hopkins’ classes. 

“Greg Hopkins is a legend in Boston and internationally,” Crettien commented. “His record is incredible, so for him to write for us is really a privilege. And the great thing about Greg, like all the great jazz composers, is that he’s writing for the students, for their level.” After his first rehearsal with the band, Hopkins made major revisions to the piece with the students’ strengths in mind. On his second visit to the class, he joked, “You sounded so great last time, I rewrote it and made it harder.”

While commissioned composers for the Jazz Festival in previous years visited the band one or two times before the festival, Hopkins has taken a much more collaborative approach. Just three weeks into the school year, he’s already rehearsed with the group three times. “It’s like we’re birthing this thing together,” Crettien marveled. “The guy is so giving.”

Throughout rehearsals, Hopkins provides direction: “Blow through the whole length of the note,” he advised a trumpet student. “Sometimes the end of the note is the most beautiful part, and you have to work toward that.” He also shares insight into his process as a composer: “Sometimes I think I’m a composer writing a piece, and other times, the piece is writing me,” he quipped at one point.

There are 17 students in Honors Big Band, representing all grades from the Upper School and various levels of playing experience. There are two pianists, two guitar players, two drummers, six saxophone players, three trombone players, and two trumpet players. Each student has a part in the piece written for them, and Hopkins takes care to find the right level of challenge for each student, working closely with Crettien.

“I write things for the kids that are a little above their heads, because I want them to jump up. And then I teach them how to do it,” Hopkins explained. “I come in and hear them so I’m not writing blind. I don’t like generic music—I like music designed for specific people. It’s an old technique, and it’s much more enjoyable that way.”

Piano players Charlie Tandon ’28 and Kyle Wang ’28 both appreciate Hopkins’ attention to detail and bringing out the best in the band. “He can see exactly what our strengths and our weaknesses are and can tailor the piece to that,” Tandon commented. “I think that’s a really valuable thing.” Wang added, “He’s a passionate conductor, and he explains things really well.”

“Reflecting on Rivers” is a fitting name for the piece as RSC celebrates its 50th anniversary this year. The title was also inspired by the simple melodies at the heart of the composition. “Two melodies reflect each other,” Hopkins explained. “They’re a musical mirror—one goes up, and the other one goes down. That’s what the ‘reflecting’ part comes from, and the piece developed just from that one idea.” 

There is still a lot of work to be done before the band takes the stage in November to premiere “Reflecting on Rivers,” but Hopkins and Crettien are excited to help the students get there. 

“He’s uplifting the kids and showing the way. That’s what I love: He’s teaching up,” Crettien reflected. “Sometimes you simplify things for kids. He doesn’t simplify things. He just enables kids to elevate themselves, to get to his level.”