{"id":5487,"date":"2025-11-04T09:41:11","date_gmt":"2025-11-04T09:41:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/?p=5487"},"modified":"2025-11-04T09:49:26","modified_gmt":"2025-11-04T09:49:26","slug":"inspiring-jazz-connections-bethany-robinson-visits-glasgow-%f0%9f%8e%b7","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/inspiring-jazz-connections-bethany-robinson-visits-glasgow-%f0%9f%8e%b7\/","title":{"rendered":"Inspiring Jazz Connections: Bethany Robinson Visits Glasgow \ud83c\udfb7"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Glasgow CREATE was thrilled to welcome internationally acclaimed jazz educator and performer Bethany Robinson<\/strong> to City Halls on 9\u201310 October<\/strong> for a series of inspiring sessions with pupils and staff ahead of the October holidays.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Bethany \u2014 a Yamaha Performing Artist<\/strong><\/a>, Grammy Music Educator Award Finalist<\/strong>, and Director of Jazz at Purdue University<\/strong> in the United States \u2014 is recognised globally for her work in developing outstanding jazz education programmes. She has led award-winning ensembles, presented at international conferences, and is celebrated for her dynamic and inclusive approach to teaching.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Her visit to Glasgow came about thanks to a connection made by one of our own percussion instructors, Robbie Houston<\/strong>, whose story highlights the power of professional curiosity and collaboration across borders:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cI first discovered Bethany Robinson on a podcast in early 2023, where she was being interviewed about her work with the bands at Noblesville High School, Indiana. The focus of the interview was around how Bethany managed to grow her school\u2019s jazz band programme from its inception with one band, to having six full ensembles playing at the highest standard in the country \u2014 an incredible achievement.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the time I had been thinking about how to enhance performance opportunities in schools for my own pupils, the majority of whom are drum kit students, and given the essence of this instrument is to play with others, I was looking for avenues to explore this in my own work.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

After hearing Bethany discuss the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Conference<\/strong> \u2014 the world\u2019s largest jazz education gathering \u2014 Robbie was inspired to attend and reached out to Bethany directly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cBethany was very encouraging and generous with information and resources,\u201d Robbie explains. \u201cWith support from the team at CREATE, I applied for funding from Creative Scotland to attend the JEN Conference in New Orleans, then travel on to Noblesville, Indiana to visit Bethany\u2019s school. Both the conference and the school visit were inspiring. It was wonderful to see so many enthusiastic students of all ages creating jazz together, and to meet some of the world\u2019s leading educators and performers. Bethany introduced me to so many inspiring people whose resources and ideas I\u2019ve since been able to bring home to Glasgow.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

On returning, Robbie launched a new Big Band project<\/strong> with S1 pupils at Bannerman High School \u2014 an experiment that saw a full class of beginners learning brass, saxophone and rhythm section instruments, and performing together within just three months. The project has since inspired further collaborative ensemble work across the city.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Bethany mentioned she would be travelling to Europe in October, CREATE seized the opportunity to bring her to Glasgow for a two-day visit.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During her time here, Bethany spent a day at City Halls<\/strong> working with pupils from the Glasgow Schools\u2019 Big Band<\/strong> and other young musicians, focusing on improvisation, groove, and the joy of collective music-making. The following morning, as part of our INSET day for Instrumental Music Instructors<\/strong>, she delivered a professional learning workshop exploring creative approaches to jazz ensemble teaching, rehearsal strategies, and inclusive musicianship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"Young<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Feedback from both pupils and staff was overwhelmingly positive, with many instructors already beginning to incorporate Bethany\u2019s ideas into their own lessons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\u201cAs we continue to grow ensembles in schools and across the city, raise standards of playing, and widen access to music-making,\u201d Robbie reflects, \u201cI\u2019ll remember all I\u2019ve learned from Bethany. Her work ethic and enthusiasm for music education are inspiring \u2014 and we\u2019ll definitely keep in touch, because who knows what opportunities might be around the corner for our students and educators alike.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

A huge thank you to Bethany Robinson<\/strong><\/a> for sharing her expertise, energy and passion, and to Robbie Houston<\/strong> for helping forge such a valuable connection between Glasgow CREATE and one of the world\u2019s leading voices in jazz education.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

You can find out more about Bethany\u2019s work via her website bethanyrobinsonjazz.com<\/strong><\/a> or follow her on Instagram at @bassbethany<\/strong><\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Glasgow CREATE was thrilled to welcome internationally acclaimed jazz educator and performer Bethany Robinson to City Halls on 9\u201310 October for a series of inspiring sessions with pupils and staff ahead of the October holidays. Bethany \u2014 a Yamaha Performing Artist, Grammy Music Educator Award Finalist, and Director of Jazz at Purdue University in the United States \u2014 is recognised globally for her […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10538,"featured_media":5492,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-5487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/public\/glasgowcreate\/uploads\/sites\/11068\/2025\/11\/04094609\/Nov-2025-Bethany-Robinson-2.png","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5487","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/10538"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5487"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5487\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":5516,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5487\/revisions\/5516"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5492"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5487"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5487"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.glowscotland.org.uk\/gc\/glasgowcreate\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5487"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}