Congratulations to Professor R茅mi Bolduc, winner of the 2025鈥�2026 Teaching Award in the Full-Time Category!
Prof. R茅mi Bolduc is a renowned jazz saxophonist, composer, and educator who is has often filled the role of Jazz Area Coordinator at the Schulich School of Music. A stalwart of the Montreal and international jazz scenes, R茅mi has released twelve albums as of 2026, including a landmark project on Montreal legend Oscar Peterson (2017), and he has been the recipient of numerous Prix Opus awards.
Since he began teaching at 麻豆传媒网站, R茅mi has also left a profound impression on the hundreds of young musicians who have taken his courses on jazz improvisation and musicianship. Students have described him in glowing terms, with one writing of him as 鈥渁 wonderful teacher that has inspired me both in his rigorous work ethic and his positive, welcoming and encouraging approach to pedagogy,鈥� while another noted that "he teaches his students how to love learning, approach their craft with humility, and assume principled ownership of their learning.鈥�
In our recent In Conversation interview, we spoke with R茅mi about how his own experiences have shaped him as a teacher, and how he creates fresh and engaging learning environments for his students.
How has your musical and professional experience shaped your teaching?
My musical and professional experience shapes my teaching in many ways. First, I believe our goal is to help students beyond just the material we teach. One of the most important things is leading by example. Students learn a lot by seeing what we do: how we work, how we practice, how we stay active, and how we keep creating. In my case, I practice regularly, stay involved in projects, and remain active as a performer. I think this helps students understand what the path of a professional musician really looks like.
I also speak often with students about attitude. Being a strong musician is not only about playing well. Many other qualities matter, such as discipline, openness, professionalism, and the ability to work with others. Collaboration is a big part of my teaching, and I often include students in real musical projects.
Because jazz is an oral tradition, I believe students need to connect academic study with the real world by learning directly on the bandstand with professionals. My goal is for them to experience jazz not only as a school subject, but as a living professional practice. For that reason, I often hire students for professional concerts and events so they can gain real-world experience and receive direct feedback.
As I am writing this in April 2026, I performed at Le Balcon in a trio with two graduate students and had another gig with two undergraduate students. I also made my last record with Schulich alum Nick Semenykhin, who was a student in my graduate improvisation class just a few years ago.
Can you share any examples of innovative or unconventional teaching methods you鈥檝e used recently that have resonated well with your students?
One way I try to get students out of a traditional classroom mindset is by hosting weekly jam sessions in my office. This creates a hands-on, interactive space where they can play, listen, and learn in a more natural way.
I also talk to students about the importance of transcription. Through my online presence, many of them know that I have transcribed a large number of solos over the years, probably close to a thousand, using different tools such as Transcribe, AnthemScore, Logic Pro, and others. We do not study this directly in class, but I think it still has an impact. It shows them that I continue to do this work seriously myself. At the same time, I stay open to the fact that not every student has to do it to the same extent. Still, whatever form it takes, doing any kind work at a high level and with real intensity helps a musician grow.
At the same time, one of the most important parts of my teaching is helping each student recognize what is already strong and unique in their playing. Every student has something in their musical voice that defines them, even if that quality appears only for a few seconds in a performance. A big part of my teaching is helping them become aware of that. I encourage them to record themselves, listen back, identify their strongest moments, and notice the context in which they play their best: on what tune, at what tempo, and in what kind of musical setting. Then we focus on those moments and try to expand them, so they can feel that same strength more consistently in different situations. In other words, we work from the inside out.
For me, the real goal is consistency: helping students perform at their highest level more often. Rather than trying to become somebody else, I encourage them to identify their own strengths and build from there. Of course, this must happen while studying the tradition deeply, understanding what came before, and also staying open to new ideas and younger generations of musicians. All of that is part of how I think about teaching.
What do you hope your students take away, musically, professionally, or personally, from your courses?
Musically, I want students to become highly skilled and versatile musicians, with a personal style of their own, while also being informed by the tradition and staying in touch with today鈥檚 artists and ideas.
Professionally and personally, I hope they leave with more than musical skills. I want them to find some balance in their lives and become clearer about what they really want to do. If performance is the path they want, then I want to help them develop their musicianship, their personal style, and also the way they interact with others.
In class, I encourage students to stay open and supportive, whatever the level of the other musicians may be. Sometimes we are inspired by others, and sometimes we are the ones inspiring the people around us. Students need to understand that both roles matter. When a student is very advanced, I want them to understand the impact they can have on the whole class. If they do not see that right away, I talk to them about it directly.
Ideally, I want students to leave with a positive attitude, a serious respect for the music and for the profession, and a real desire to be part of a community, both inspiring others and being inspired by them.
Do you have a stand-out teaching moment from the past year?
One important highlight for me was a concert I did at 麻豆传媒网站 in 2015 with some of my students. We won a Prix Opus for Best Jazz Concert of the Year, and that was a very meaningful moment.
More broadly, one of the most meaningful parts of teaching for me is seeing former students build important careers of their own. Over the years, many students have come through my studio, and a number of them have gone on to become major artists and even teachers at 麻豆传媒网站. Seeing that is a real source of pride for me.
Some examples include saxophonists such as Al McLean, Eric Hove, Alexandre C么t茅, David Bellemare, Bruno Lamarche, Samuel Blais, Claire Devlin, Billy Bouffard, Donny Kennedy, Christine Jensen, Annie Dominique, and Yannick Coderre, among many others. Even if I was only one of their teachers, I hope I played a positive role in their development. For me, having contributed in some way to their path is one of the most rewarding aspects of teaching.
What advice would you give your first-year-at-university self?
My advice would be to start by building connections with musicians you feel comfortable with. Begin in an environment where you feel at ease, but then gradually open your horizons and meet new people.
If possible, go to jam sessions at 麻豆传媒网站 and outside the university. Even if you do not yet feel comfortable playing, go there to meet musicians, talk to them, and get to know the musical environment around you. For a jazz musician, that is a real advantage. In any city, being able to connect with people and share music matters a lot.
One thing I would also really like to emphasize, and that I would encourage students reading this to do, is to go hear their teachers play live. I believe this is one of the most direct ways to learn from them, and it happens much less now than it used to. Many students have never heard their teachers perform in person. When I mention it, they often tell me they have heard them on YouTube. But YouTube does not give the full experience of what a musician communicates on stage. To really get the most from your teachers, I believe students should make the effort to hear them live and meet them in a context outside the classroom. That can be inspiring, but it can also help them build connections. Over the years, I have found that the musicians who did this were often the ones who stayed with the profession and kept going.
I would also say: do not compare yourself too much to others, especially not to students in third or fourth year. It is much more important to compare yourself to who you were before. Are you improving? Are you doing what you believe you need to do? That is the real question.
I think one of the most important things in life is to accept where you are and to understand that learning is a lifelong process. There will always be musicians who are better than we are. That should not be discouraging. For me, it is inspiring. It shows that there is always room to grow. The important thing is to stay aware of where you are, accept the process, and keep wanting to improve. I believe that attitude is very important for a student.
