Jazz Program Director Victor Goines (on saxophone) was joined by Wynton Marsalis (trumpet) and Carlos Henriquez (bass) for a performance at the 'My Favorite Things' benefit in April. (Photo by Don Pollard)

Hoping to join the ranks of such notable Juilliard alumni as Miles Davis and Wynton Marsalis, this month 18 students—16 men and 2 women—from across the country entered into the inaugural year of the program, officially called the Juilliard Institute for Jazz Studies. The students, who passed a rigorous audition process to gain entry into the tuition-free program, come from places as diverse as Albuquerque, N.M. and Brookline, Mass.

Students will receive an Artist Diploma at the completion of their two-year requirements. The curriculum will be individually shaped, focusing primarily on public performance for jazz orchestra and small ensemble. Each Jazz Studies student will participate as a member of the Juilliard Jazz Orchestra, and will have the opportunity to perform at Juilliard and in Alice Tully Hall, as well as local jazz clubs and on tour.

The program provides a unique opportunity for participants to study the history of jazz through the performance of the music. In addition to public concerts, students will have a core curriculum of big band, small ensemble, jazz history, improvisation, and composition, as well as ear training, piano skills, and music theory.

“The benefits of the Juilliard Jazz Studies Program are endless,” says its director, Victor L. Goines. “It is the collaboration of two organizations representing the highest level of excellence in the music profession, The Juilliard School and Jazz at Lincoln Center. The program will allow the students to have access to the greatest performers and teachers in both the jazz and classical worlds through its own jazz faculty members and invited guests.”

Your first chance to catch the Jazz Orchestra in action will be on October 30 at 8 p.m. in Alice Tully Hall. Works by Duke Ellington, Benny Goodman, and others will be performed, with special guest Wynton Marsalis, the artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center and a Juilliard faculty member. In the second half of the concert, the Juilliard Orchestra will team up with the Jazz Orchestra for arrangements made by Mr. Marsalis specifically for the two groups. A limited number of required free tickets will be available starting on October 16 at the Juilliard Box Office.

Carolyn Appel is an assistant in the Jazz Studies Office.