AT JAZZ HOUSE KiDS, WE BELIEVE THAT LEARNING TO UNDERSTAND, CREATE AND LOVE JAZZ — THIS GREAT AMERICAN ART FORM – REAPS LIFELONG BENEFITS THAT EVERY CHILD DESERVES TO ENJOY.
We know that music creates bonds and builds communities. That’s why everything we do is suffused with jazz. Step into our rehearsal rooms, an in-school program, one of our events, or even our office, and you’ll find music in the air! We put these beliefs into practice in a variety of ways and places: In schools, at our JAZZ HOUSE studio, and within the larger communities where we work, we’ve built circles of enthusiastic students, dedicated staff, first-rate professional teaching artists, supporters and friends.
JAZZ HOUSE KiDS is the only community arts organization in New Jersey (and now New York City) exclusively dedicated to educating children through jazz: America’s home-grown art form. At the JAZZ HOUSE, we ensure that every student has access to music, education, mentoring, and apprenticeship.
Bridging the equity gap, the program provides students in under-resourced schools in New Jersey with new instruments so they can participate in their school bands. Loaner instruments are also provided to beginner students in Page One at JAZZ HOUSE NYC.
NJ Schools in Essex, Union and Passaic Counties;
JAZZ HOUSE NYC
Need-based tuition assistance in NJ and tuition-free programming in NYC remove barriers that stand in the way of students’ participation in top-quality classes and private instruction. All students are served, regardless of their backgrounds, financial circumstances or zip code.
JAZZ HOUSE Montclair; JAZZ HOUSE NYC; JAZZ HOUSE Summer Workshop (Montclair State University)
A nationally-recognized program focused on girls ages 12-18, boosting confidence through jazz, providing a rich musical learning environment, peer-to-peer engagement and mentoring by top female jazz instructors who lead by example.
JAZZ HOUSE Montclair
Our year-round programming nurtures a love for jazz and centers jazz as intervention, empowering students ages 8 to 19, at every level of experience, to rise and improvise. Our weekly instrumental and vocal classes for students of all levels are set up as ensembles, so that students not only learn to play their instruments, solo and improvise, but also collaborate with other musicians.
Every day of the week — out of school and over the weekend and summer — instrumental and vocal classes are offered to students of all levels and abilities throughout NJ and at our new campus at Trinity Commons in NYC. We teach beginners to pre-professionals headed to the nation’s top college music programs. We also offer adult classes in New Jersey.
JAZZ HOUSE Montclair; JAZZ HOUSE NYC
Our Music Scholars programming inspires and challenges students in the classroom 180 days a year with musician training, assemblies + concerts, residency programs, as well as professional development for music teachers.
NJ Schools in Essex, Union and Passaic Counties
Nationally-recognized, our Summer Workshop program attracts instrumental and vocal students from five states and six countries where they receive top-notch instruction to develop key skills to enhance knowledge of fundamentals and jazz performances. Performances include NYC’s Dizzy’s Club and the MONTCLAIR JAZZ FESTIVAL.
Through jazz, we prepare young people to become community leaders and global citizens, empowering them to find their voice both on and off the stage.
A series of action-oriented workshops, panel discussions, and college fairs for high school musicians and their families featuring representatives from top music programs across the country. This series gives our students the tools to continue pursuing their goals long after they leave the JAZZ HOUSE classrooms.
JAZZ HOUSE Montclair; JAZZ HOUSE NYC
Known colloquially as “giglets,” the program provides students and alumni with opportunities to hone their craft while enhancing their communities. For many, these pro-level performance experiences are their first paying gigs.
JAZZ HOUSE Montclair; JAZZ HOUSE NYC; Events throughout the Tri-State area
Our CHiCA POWER Leadership Summit is a day of workshops and panel discussions with accomplished female leaders and industry change-makers to share stories of their diverse journeys.
JAZZ HOUSE Montclair; JAZZ HOUSE NYC; JAZZ HOUSE Summer Workshop (Montclair State University)
JAZZ HOUSE KiDS participates in over 80 community performances a year and each summer we produce the Montclair Jazz Festival, which is free and open to the public. We are now seeing the legacy of our work through our alums who are truly the rising new generation of jazz musicians and engaged citizens. We foster an artistic edge ensure that every one of our students has access to music, education, mentoring, and leadership.
The largest free jazz festival in the NYC metropolitan area, the annual event has grown from a few dozen people playing jazz in a park to a 4-day downtown takeover featuring 60 hours of live music, 50 musical acts and a diverse multi-generational audience of 20,000 music fans. All JAZZ HOUSE Summer Workshop students perform in large ensembles at the Lackawanna Block Party.
Downtown Montclair, NJ + livestream
Curated by Christian McBride and Melissa Walker, this free series held in Trinity Church features brilliant, renowned practitioners of the jazz tradition such as Steve Turre, Dave Holland and Monty Alexander.
JAZZ HOUSE NYC + livestream
Curated by Ted Chubb, Vice President of Jazz Education, this series held in St. Paul’s Chapel features talented professional artists for free weekly lunchtime concerts.
JAZZ HOUSE NYC + livestream
Now in its 7th year, our world- renowned bassist Christian McBride hosts a special benefit with Ralph Pucci International, an evening of concert + conversation featuring some of music’s most distinctive voices, including Norah Jones, Wynton Marsalis, Esperanza Spalding, John Pizzarelli, Laurie Anderson and Diana Krall.
Ralph Pucci International Showroom + Gallery (NYC)
