Jazz Education In Our Community

The Healdsburg Jazz Festival’s Education Program shifts into high gear from March through May every year, reaching over 8,000 students from Healdsburg and neighboring schools. These exciting and important programs bring the living tradition of jazz directly into classrooms, assemblies, band rooms, and the hearts and minds of young listeners and players. These programs are supported by your membership and sponsorship.

Percussion, Song, and Dance Workshops

Each spring the inspirational African drum and dance master Tacuma King presents his brilliant six-week Percussion, Song, and Dance Workshops for school children. The classes are designed for ages 6-9 and ages 10-14; each class is 90 minutes long, and the program runs in six sessions, from May to June. For more information call 707-433-4633.
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Operation Jazz Band

(See our post and video on last year’s Operation Jazz Band)
This program teaches Healdsburg fifth-graders about the instruments of a jazz ensemble. This form of enrichment to the standard American history curriculum is always extremely well-received by teachers and students alike. Every day for five days the musicians visit local schools to teach and demonstrate the basics of a jazz education.
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Oaktown Jazz Workshops

Each year, the Healdsburg Jazz Festival brings Khalil Shaheed and the Oaktown Jazz Workshop to work with Healdsburg High School jazz players on musicianship and improvisation. The Oaktown Jazz Workshop musicians are the elite of Bay Area jazz musicians, coming here each year because they believe in the festival’s mission to support and educate young jazz players.
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Jazz Appreciation Classes

Classes are designed to give participants a concise yet thorough perspective of the evolution of today’s popular music known as Jazz. It is a uniquely American story with African and European origins, and an intrinsic connection to the socio-economic history of working-class communities. Rare recordings and video clips from the instructors’ collections are often featured. Classes consist of lecture, listening and discussion in which participants and instructor will analyze the music together.

All it takes is volunteers …
Want to help out? Volunteer with the Festival for education, event production, marketing, newsletter or fund-raising projects.