Kyle Haas
In Motion Staff Writer
Abe Alam, a guitarist/educator at Daytona State College, has been accepted into what is being billed as one of the finest jazz ensembles in the country. But he sacrificed his first performance with the group to direct the DSC Jazz Orchestra concert last month.
The Dr. Phillips Center Jazz Orchestra, under the direction of Artistic Director Rodney Whitaker, put out a call for musicians earlier this year. Costing an estimated $514 million, the Phillips Center in Orlando — which already includes an intimate theater space and larger 2,700-seat Disney concert hall — anticipates opening a 1,700-seat acoustic venue in late 2018.
Alam is also the jazz band and jazz combo director at the college and is musical conductor during the groups’ performances. He heard about the auditions for the 18-man ensemble a week before they occurred in February. He was informed by music colleagues at the college about the audition.
“It was really disappointing to miss the first rehearsal,” Alam, 28, said about his selection. “I got so excited that I started telling everybody about the great news and then had to tell them all that I wouldn’t be going to the first rehearsal.
“But I made a commitment to them and I would never ever abandon them,” he said of the student musicians in his DSC ensembles.
Of Iranian heritage, Alam received his Associate’s degree from DSC, a bachelor’s from the University of Central Florida and a master’s from University of North Florida. While at Daytona State and UCF, he earned music scholarships and at UNF had a graduate fellowship. In his spare time, he performs professional and at the Restoration Church of Port Orange. He’s also played in local and regional Broadway pit orchestras in Orlando and briefly taught Jazz Combo at Matanzas High School in Palm Coast.
“He’s dedicated. He practiced hours and hour every day. You don’t find many students that have that kind of discipline,” recalled Dr. Doug Peterson, chair of the Mike Curb College of Music, Art and Entertainment. “He was 18 when he got here and went to one of the area high schools.”
Dr. Peter Waidelich, director of instrumental music and co-chair of the department, was among Alam’s mentors during his studies here. Since joining the college faculty in 2013, Alam has kept busy with the jazz ensembles and this semester directed the musical “Violet” at the News-Journal Center. That production received a superior ranking from the Florida College System Activities Association, which is the highest rating given to a performance in the 28-member college system.
When he received the acceptance letter that he had won a spot in the Dr. Phillips Jazz Orchestra, “Oh man it was actually really unexpected, I only knew about the auditions a week before they happened and was working on ‘Violet.’ My wife was like, ‘Just go for it. What have you got to lose?’”
“This will be, quite probably, one of the finest jazz ensembles in the nation and world and is a spin-off from the ensemble that is led by Wynton Marsalis at Lincoln Center,” pointed out Dr. Peterson.
Although Alam missed the first rehearsal, he is pumped up and ready to show the world what he’s got. Despite the acclaim that might accompany membership in such an elite ensemble, Alam hasn’t forgotten where he came from.
As he recalled in a Falcon Spotlight highlighting his work here, Alam said the best advice he’s ever gotten was “To pursue my first two years of school at DSC. I had some fantastic teachers and was well-prepared when I went on to UCF. The Daytona State of Mind to me means knowing you can obtain a quality education here for half the cost.”