Jazz St. Louis Education programs inspire leadership, creativity, and cultural appreciation in the next generation of musicians and audiences. Through high-quality training, accessible educational resources, and transformative experiences with local and world-renowned artists, we open pathways to jazz for students of all ages.
Our robust portfolio of programs serves elementary through college students across the greater St. Louis region and beyond. We provide field trip experiences, individual music lessons, small ensemble music coaching, in-school clinics, masterclasses, in addition to curricular resources for teachers—all offered at no cost to participants.
To stay engaged with our education offerings, join the JSL Education Facebook group and follow our YouTube channel.
Partnerships
with area schools
Students
impacted since 2000
Serving
of students are from underserved communities
No Cost
all programs are offered to participants at no charge
JazzU
With the support of generous donors and foundations, JazzU places talented middle and high school musicians in small jazz combos that rehearse weekly from September through May. Students benefit from the guidance of JazzU faculty and gain unparalleled access to world-class touring artists through the Jazz St. Louis Artist Residency Program, providing them with the opportunity to learn directly from some of the most accomplished musicians in the field.
Jazz Academy
Jazz Academy is a free music and leadership development program for middle school students who have an interest in performing music and want to strengthen their abilities on their instrument. Open to students in 6th through 8th grade, Jazz Academy members meet weekly, after school at Jazz St. Louis.
Jazz for our Schools
Jazz for Our Schools provides students from area schools the opportunity to experience world-class musicians in a world-class venue, the Ferring Jazz Bistro. School groups attending a performance arrive at 11 am for lunch, provided by Jazz St. Louis, followed by a performance and conversation with one of our subscription series artists. Performances finish by 12:30 pm.
Jazz St. Louis Artist Residencies
Jazz St. Louis’s Artist Residency Program brings professional jazz artists and educators to St. Louis for an entire week. During the week, the artists travel throughout the metro area to conduct master classes and clinics with middle and high school musicians, and presenting concerts in the community.
Regional Essentially Ellington Festival
Jazz St. Louis is proud to partner with Jazz at Lincoln Center to bring its internationally acclaimed Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Festival to St. Louis. This FREE, one-day festival will feature an all-star line up of clinicians. In addition to performance and written comments, participating bands will receive a free workshop from one of the festival clinicians as well as the opportunity to attend instrument/section-specific master classes.
Elementary Curriculum
Jazz St. Louis’s Elementary Curriculum Partnerships are a district-wide initiative with Jazz St. Louis, focusing on reaching general music teachers and students on a much deeper and more comprehensive level. Designed using “Depth of Knowledge” levels, students learn rhythmic, harmonic, and improvisation concepts as well as develop a solid understanding of the social and cultural climate that made the development of jazz possible.
