The Juilliard School - Jazz Studies - Performance Activities

Music Division
Jazz Studies
Performance Activities

Whether enrolled in The Juilliard School’s jazz program as an undergraduate working toward a bachelor’s degree or a graduate student in the Artist Diploma program, all Jazz Studies students have the opportunity to hone their performing skills as members of the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra and the Juilliard Jazz Ensembles.

The Juilliard Jazz Orchestra made its debut in Alice Tully Hall on October 31, 2001. Since then, the orchestra has appeared in venues throughout the metropolitan area and on tour in the United States, Europe, and Central America, performing repertoire from across the spectrum of jazz history, from Duke Ellington and Hoagy Carmichael to Wynton Marsalis and other composers of our time. Works by the jazz students themselves are often highlights of the concerts, and one performance each season is devoted exclusively to music by our own students.

The Juilliard Jazz Ensembles also perform throughout the metropolitan area and beyond. Most recently, these small ensembles have been featured at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival, as an opening act for the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and at various New York City clubs including Dizzy's Club Coca-Cola. International tours have included stops in Spoleto, Italy, and San José, Costa Rica.

With a repertoire ranging from the Modern Jazz Quartet to early New Orleans jazz, the ensembles also present students’ original compositions and arrangements in concert. The small jazz ensembles are conducted by Carl Allen, Wycliffe Gordon, and Ben Wolfe.