.png)
Events
DC Jazz Festival Education
Overview
Inspiring the next generation of DC's jazz artists
DC Jazz Festival® Education provides affordable jazz education programs to students of all ages, teachers, and families, especially in underserved communities. From early childhood through adult learners, DC Jazz Festival Education engages and enhances the lives of a vast demographic of the DC-metropolitan community with robust and comprehensive programming. Our dynamic, interactive, and immersive DCJF Education have received numerous awards including the Wells Fargo Cultural Excellence Grant and the DC Mayor’s Arts Award for Excellence in Creative Industries.
DCJF prides itself on providing top-quality music educators and teachers who have dedicated their lives to teaching the true essence of jazz. They take joy in sharing their talents with youth. Learn more about our award-winning programs in this brochure.
To learn more or to book an education program at your school or community center, contact Heidi Martin, DCJF Education Coordinator, at heidi@dcjazzfest.org.
Early Childhood Music Education
%20(1).jpeg)
DC JazzBops!
DC JazzBops! is the DC Jazz Festival's early education program that uses jazz-centric books and interactive lessons to establish early music skills while promoting an interest in reading, mathematics, and self-expression from a young age. There are lessons that allow for hands-on instruction with instruments and plenty of group-based activities. The DC Jazz Festival was a recipient of the Wells Fargo Cultural Excellence Grant based on the fundamental and innovative ground work we laid out with our DC JazzBops! program.
The 2022-23 DC JazzBops! programs are made possible, in part, with major grants from the Government of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, Mayor; DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities; National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs program of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts; and with awards from Galena-Yorktown Foundation, Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, The Venable Foundation, and the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation. ©2022 DC Jazz Festival. All rights reserved
Elementary, Middle and High School Education
Jazzin’ InSchool
Jazzin’ InSchool engages elementary-aged students in an interactive exploration of jazz, its development in the U.S. and its relationship to other global musical art forms. With live music experiences, Jazzin’ InSchool includes singing, instrument interaction, social studies, history and geography. Focus areas include Jazz and Hip Hop, Jazz and South Africa, Blues Harmonica Workshop, Guitar Ensemble Program and more.
Session Time - 60 minutes
Ages - 7-11
“The DC Jazz Festival offered students (and teachers!) a wonderful learning experience that pushed their thinking and gave students the opportunity to explore the major elements of jazz, go-go, and hip hop in a unique way!” - DC Public Schools Office of Teaching and Learning
The 2022-23 Jazzin’ InSchool programs are made possible, in part, with major grants from the Government of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, Mayor; DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities; National Capital Arts and Cultural Affairs program of the U.S. Commission of Fine Arts; and with awards from the Galena-Yorktown Foundation, Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, The Venable Foundation, Arts Forward Fund of the Greater Washington Community Foundation, Les Paul Foundation, and the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation; with corporate support from CareFirst and Amazon. ©2022 DC Jazz Festival. All rights reserved.
Jazzin’ AfterSchool
In partnership with Sitar Arts Center, Jazzin’ AfterSchool provides year-round weekly instrument training and jazz history sessions for Sitar music students. Each semester, students enrolled in the course are joined by upwards of 80 other Sitar music students for a lively masterclass session focusing exclusively on jazz performance, history, and appreciation. A core group of students performs in a culminating concert at Sitar Arts Center for their peers, teachers, and families and also, are featured each year in an exceptional performance at the DC Jazz Festival’s Jazz 'n Families Fun Days event.
The 2022-23 Jazzin’ AfterSchool programs are made possible, in part, with major grants from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities and; and with awards from the Galena-Yorktown Foundation, Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation, The Venable Foundation, and the Les Paul Foundation. ©2022 DC Jazz Festival. All rights reserved.
DC Jazz Festival Education Jazz and Go-Go: Teaching Its Connections
Jazz and Go-Go: Teaching Its Connections demonstrates the main elements in jazz and Go-Go, DC’s unique art form. Teaching artist Elijah Balbed and the JoGo Project will guide students through an engaging and interactive lesson on jazz and go-go, demonstrating the overlapping themes of swing, improvisation, blues, sampling, signifying, and swagger. The JoGo Project is a WAMMIE Award-winning band from Washington, DC that fuses many styles of music with jazz harmonies with a driving Go-Go beat at its core.
Music, Geography, and History teachers are encouraged to participate. This program is designed for DC public and charter school students. Appropriate Teaching Levels: 4-6th Grades.
DC Jazz Festival Education: MINGUS 100 Celebrating the Life of Charles Mingus
DC Jazz Festival Education, in partnership with the Library of Congress, presents MINGUS 100, in celebration of the 100-year anniversary of Charles Mingus’ birth. Composer/bandleader/bassist Charles Mingus is one of the great jazz musicians and composers of the 20th century. An interactive performance of his original works by the Mingus Dynasty Band will feature DCJF Artist-in-Residence Orrin Evans on piano. The field trip will include an introduction on The Charles Mingus Collection at The Library of Congress.
The Mingus Collection includes collected papers—including scores, sound recordings, correspondence, and photos from Mingus’ career spanning three decades. Student in attendance can sign up for a Library of Congress library card. The Collection also includes Mingus’ annotated drafts of Mingus’ autobiography, Beneath the Underdog.
All Ages Music Education
This field trip, part of the 2023 DC Jazz Festival Education, is made possible by a major grant from the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities; with additional funding from the Galena-Yorktown Foundation, The John Edward Fowler Memorial Foundation, Venable Foundation, and the Max and Victoria Dreyfus Foundation.
DCJazzPrix™ International Band Competition
DCJazzPrix is an annual international band competition that provides a unique professional and adjudication platform for emerging bands, outside of the traditional academic and commercial arenas. Unlike other performance-based contests, DCJazzPrix puts the emphasis on the essential interactions between band members and recognizes these relationships as the core pursuit of the jazz aesthetic. Young and emerging jazz bands from around are encouraged to apply for what apsires to be a premier global platform for jazz band's seeking new audiences and exciting career navigation opportunities.
All DCJazzPrix applicants will have their music heard by a prestigious jury of jazz luminaries. Up to three finalist bands will be selected to travel to Washington, DC during the annual DC JazzFest to compete at the DCJazzPrix Finals before an enthusiastic crowd of jazz fans. The winning band will begin a yearlong association with the DC Jazz Festival to include: a $15,000 grand prize, customized business development and career impact services, extensive publicity training, and a highly visible 2022 DC JazzFest engagement with commensurate compensation.
The 2022-2023 DCJazzPrix program is made possible by the generous support of The Leonard and Elaine Silverstein Family Foundation. The DCJazzPrix award is made possible by the generous support of the Gillon Charitable Fund, Roger Schagrin, and the Galena-Yorktown Foundation.
Meet the Artist
The Meet The Artist initative, part of the DC Jazz Festival Education Program, is a year-round endeavor with its heaviest concentration of activities during our festival season. This initiative provides a rare opportunity for DCJF audiences to get “up close & personal” with the artists we present. These one on-one interview engage artists in dialogue on their artistic and career development, including insights into their creative process, affiliations along their respective artistic journey, and their views on society, including dialogue on elements of social change. Meet The Artist are designed to provide DCJF audiences with artist insights off the bandstand, presenting unique opportunities to learn about these creative people beyond the performance. These sessions serve to “demystify” the jazz art form for our audiences, providing them with ample occasion for their own inquiries and questions to artists beyond those posed by our interviewers.
Orrin Evans - DC Jazz Festival Artist-In-Residence, 2022-2023
Artist-In-Residence Program
The DC Jazz Festival recently launched our Artist-In-Residence Program to provide our community with valuable perspective and insight from a bevy of world-renowned artists who will use their collective experiences to inform and enrich our programming. We are beyond honored to announce that the presiding DCJF Artist-In-Residence is none other than the multi-talented Terri Lynne Carrington. Read more about her accolades and what she brings to the program through the header above.
In late 2021, DCJF announced that prolific pianist, composer, and bandleader Orrin Evans will serve as the organization’s Artist-In-Residence for a 2-year period beginning January 2, 2022.
"Making music has always been an essential part of my life but presenting music is also a passion,” said Evans. “The chance to create and fellowship with the music scene in DC is a welcome one, and I am so excited about the possibilities. My sincere thanks to South Arts and DC Jazz Festival for the opportunity.”
Orrin Evans’ DCJF residency is part of the Jazz Road Creative Residencies program, a program of South Arts. Jazz Road Creative Residencies is a uniquely artist-centric program that promotes artistic flexibility. “With a Jazz Road Creative Residencies grant, artists are given the flexibility to design and propose their own project with funds of scale that make a difference. We are putting the direction and power directly in the hands of the artists,” said Sara Donnelly, Director of Jazz with South Arts.