education
Vail Jazz Education
Workshop
A dozen of the country’s most dedicated, gifted, and promising high school jazz musicians participate in the 10-day Workshop.
Jammin' Jazz Kids
A free interactive program that teach youngsters the fundamentals of jazz and the art of improvisation.
Jazz Goes to School
Jazz education for 4th and 5th graders from top jazz musicians/educators. Celebrating 25 years!
“To meet teachers that were friendly, open minded and dedicated to the jazz lineage, inviting me to look them up when I got older – that doesn’t just happen for young musicians.”
Lakecia Benjamin
class of 1999
“We picked the repertoire for our groups and we did the arrangements together. I liked that it was very much a group decision and a group effort.”
Katie Thiroux
class of 2005
“What made me want to come to Vail was when I first heard Lewis Nash. I totally fell in love with his drumming. A teacher of mine was friends with Nash, and I heard them discussing me: ‘How can we get him to Vail?’”
Evan Sherman
class of 2009
Perpetuating Jazz with a Focus on Young Musicians
300+
workshop alumni
1000+
VJGTS students annually
26
years and counting
100+
alum Grammy nominations
6
workshop instructors
What Sets VJ Education Apart
Who we are.
We cherish the bonds of community between musicians, workshop alumni, staff and audiences. We take pride in bringing the rich, cultural heritage of jazz to the forefront of the community.
What we do.
The Workshop and Jazz Goes to School provide music curriculum that bridges the gap between art and history. Our instructors double as story tellers that teach the importance of landmark moments our nation has risen up from, and how we have overcome adversity through art as a powerful tool of expression.
Where we're headed.
The goal of VJGTS is to expand the program to include more students across the state, and to deliver a live performance finale to 4th and 5th graders that complete the curriculum. Either in-person or virtually.
