Anton Schwartz

Wordflow Cofounder, Chief Innovation Officer - 2020-pres.

Creators of the interactive, multi-platform Wordflow app, providing phonics instruction and groundbreaking, personalized reading practice to struggling readers.

• Currently piloting with the Jamestown Community Center and selected school districts in the San Francisco Bay Area. (Winter-Spring 2024)
  
• Awardees of 2023-24 NewSchools Venture Fund Grant

The ScaleMate App Creator - 2020-pres.

Interactive mobile app for iPhone/iPad. Allows musicians to visualize scales in novel ways, modify them with a touch interface, and hear the results instantly.
Average App Store rating: ★★★★★ (4.9 out of 5)

The Random Roots App Creator - 2018-pres.

Interactive mobile app for iPhone/iPad. Trains musicians to execute musical ideas in multiple keys and, in the process, forces them to internalize music at a deep level. New category of practice aid, based on research about deep skill acquisition.
Average app store rating: ★★★★★ (4.7 out of 5) • 190+ reviews

• The Blue Note (NYC)
• Jazz at Lincoln Center (NYC)
• SFJAZZ (San Francisco)
• Yoshi's (Oakland)
• Blues Alley (DC)
• Catalina's (LA)
• Regattabar (Boston)
• Kuumbwa (Santa Cruz)
• Jazz Alley (Seattle)
• Monterey Jazz Festival

• Flash Mob (2014) - Rose to #6 on the U.S. jazz radio charts
• Radiant Blue (2006) - Rose to #4 on the U.S. jazz radio charts
• Holiday Time (2004)
• The Slow Lane (2000) - Top 20 on the U.S. jazz radio charts
• When Music Calls (1998) - Top 40 on the U.S. jazz radio charts

• Winner “2016 Northwest Acoustic Jazz Ensemble of the Year” (Anton Schwartz Quintet) - awarded by Earshot Jazz
• Feature articles in publications such as Billboard, DownBeat, Jazz Improv, JazzWeek, and United Press International
• “Editor’s picks” of dozens of newspapers around the nation.
• CD reviews in all the main jazz media.

California Jazz Conservatory / The Jazzschool Faculty - 2001-pres.

• Designed and taught over a hundred 2-5 hour workshops:
  • On dozens of subjects ranging from Altered and Diminished Harmony to The Physics of the Saxophone to Developing Your Ballad Skills.
  • For workshop listings and descriptions, see Anton's clinician page.
• Designed and taught beginning to advanced courses:
• Improvising Eighth Note Lines I & II
• Applied Ear Training
• Ballad Combo
• Fourth-Sixth Grade Combo
• Seventh-Eighth Grade Combo
• Bebop Combo

Private Studio Educator - 1995-pres

• Teach individual lessons to intermediate through professional level jazz students of saxophone, piano, guitar, bass, trumpet, flute, vibraphone.
• Studios in Oakland and Seattle. Lessons in person and internationally via Skype.
• Taught 90-minute group “jazz workout” sessions - fast-paced, interactive, ear-intensive drills (twice/week, 2009-2010).

Clinician At Large Educator/Guest Artist - 1995-pres

• Guest lecturer and performer at dozens of colleges, high schools and jazz institutions such as: SFJAZZ High School All-Stars, Oakland School for the Arts, Seattle JazzED, SLO Jazz Festival Workshop, The Young Lions Saxophone Challenge, Edmonds-Woodway Summer Jazz Colony, San Jose State University, Pacific Lutheran University, Sonoma State University…

Jazz Blog Author - 2011-pres.

Anton's writings about jazz theory and practice - a highly trafficked resource.
antonjazz.com/blog

The Lafayette Summer Music Jazz Workshop Faculty - 2013-pres.

Teach advanced jazz theory, give masterclasses, give assorted clinics, direct ensembles. Ages 13-adult.

The Stanford Jazz Workshop Faculty - 1994-2008

Taught musicianship classes, directed combos, gave masterclasses, taught private lessons. All levels, ages 12-adult.

The Brubeck Institute Clinician - 2004-2012

Worked with the prestigious Brubeck Fellows:
Coached ensemble, taught improvisation, gave private lessons.

KNKX School Of Jazz Guest Artist / Mentor - 2012, 2017, 2019

Worked with Jackson High School; Lynnwood High School; Eckstein Middle School Jazz Ensembles. Coached them on performance and improvisation. Recorded and performed with them on KNKX FM and at Jazz Alley.

Bellevue Jazz Rising Stars Program Mentor - 2012

Led an ensemble comprised of some of the Seattle area's most talented young jazz musicians, coaching them for a performance in the Bellevue Jazz Festival.

The Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony Artist-In-Residence - August, 2008

Led ensembles, taught saxophone masterclasses, performed, sat on panels.

Harvard University Artist-In-Residence - April, 2002

Gave workshops & panel discussions, rehearsed & performed with Harvard Jazz Bands, gave clinic to Boston elementary school students.

San Francisco Symphony AIM Program 1998, 1999, 2003

Guest performer/clinician, teaching elementary school students about jazz music.

Stanford University Music Dept. 1992-95

Coached jazz combos for Music 171: Chamber Music.

Stanford University 1989-1994

Ph.D. Candidate in Computer Science.
Conducted doctoral research in Artificial Intelligence, gave conference talks, published papers. GPA: 4.0.
M.S. in Computer Science conferred June, 1993.

University of Bonn Summer 1993

Visiting Scholar in Artificial Intelligence. Collaborated and coauthored with Sebastian Thrun. Gave lectures, performed research.

Harvard University 1985-1989

A.B. in Mathematics and Philosophy, Magna Cum Laude. GPA: 3.72

Dalton High School 1981-1985

Studied advanced mathematics at Columbia University and N.Y.U.'s Courant Institute.

Eastman School of Music Summer 1984

Studied arranging, performance, jazz history, saxophone.

Private Jazz/Saxophone Study

With Paul Cohen (1981-82), Warne Marsh (1982-84), Eddie Daniels (1984-85).

• IBM Graduate Fellow (1992-94)
• Hertz Foundation Research Fellowship Grant Recipient (1992)
• National Science Foundation Graduate Fellow (1989-92)
• Phi Beta Kappa (1989)
• John Harvard Scholar (1987, 1989)
• JAMS Fellow (1988)
• Harvard College Scholar (1988)
• National Merit Scholar (1985)

• Anton's Ph.D. research in Machine Learning has been sited in publications over 1,200 times.
• Anton's Google Scholar page
• Academic Publications   [click to show/hide]
• “Finding Structure in Reinforcement Learning,” Sebasitan Thrun and Anton Schwartz. In G. Tesauro and D. Touretzky and T. Leen (Eds.), Advances in Neural Information Processing Systems (NIPS) 7, Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995.
• “Issues in using function approximation for reinforcement learning,” Sebastian Thrun and Anton Schwartz. In M. C. Mozer, P. Smolensky, D. S. Touretzky, J. L. Elman, & A. S. Weigend (Eds.), Proceedings of the 1993 Connectionist Models Summer School, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1994.
• “Thinking Locally to Act Globally: A Novel Approach to Reinforcement Learning,” Anton Schwartz. Proceedings of the Thirteenth Annual Conference of the Cognitive Science Society, Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, 1993.
• “A Reinforcement Learning Method for Maximizing Undiscounted Rewards,” Anton Schwartz. Proceedings of the Tenth International Conference on Machine Learning, San Mateo, CA: Morgan Kaufmann, 1993.
• “Making the Best Use of What Cameras Tell Us,” Anton Schwartz, Working Notes of the 1992 AAAI Spring Symposium on Selective Perception.
• “Preliminary Thoughts on an Agent Description Language,” Becky Thomas, Yoav Shoham, Anton Schwartz and Sarit Kraus, International Journal of Intelligent Systems, 6(5), August, 1991.
• “Provability Formalized and the Algebra of Formal Implication,” Anton Schwartz, Harvard University Archives HU92.89.836, April, 1989.

• Susan Muscarella, Director, California Jazz Conservatory
  510 845-5373 or
• Peter Williams, Artistic Director, Yoshi's (1999-2011)
  510 238-4555 or
• Mark Ruffin, Jazz Program Director, Sirius XM Satellite Radio
  866 628-JAZZ or
• Joe Gilman, Music Director, Brubeck Institute (2005-2012)
  916 712-8897 or
• Becca Pulliam, Producer, JazzSet from NPR Music (1992-2014)
  917 596-8268 or

• Anton's Teaching Site - Anton's web site includes a section devoted to jazz education.
• Anton's Jazz Blog - Anton's writings on many aspects of jazz theory and practice.
• Anton's Facebook Musician Page