Global Jazz: Ongoing Conversations is a weeklong summer jazz intensive that connects high school musicians to a vibrant community of artists led by UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Global Jazz Studies faculty and current fellows of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA. This program brings together performers from throughout the world to comprise the nation’s first global jazz studies summer workshop. Students will participate in master classes, lessons, composition workshops, and performances throughout the week.
Collaborative classes and lessons are designed around each student’s needs, with an emphasis on progressive models of jazz performance. Each student will engage with composition and ensemble projects, with instrumentation determined by the workshop participants rather than the traditional big band model.
Each student will be encouraged to participate to compose and collaborate. Our instructors–themselves composers, arrangers, and fellows of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA–are well versed in global jazz repertoire and concepts, and committed to seeing the program reflect the future of this music with roots firmly embedded in its tradition.
During the program students will work collaboratively and with instructors to create unique individual and ensemble recordings that showcase their playing. To cap the experience, a showcase of student performances will be held at UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music for participants to share their work with friends and family!