Tag: College Program

Renowned Trumpeter/Composer Ambrose Akinmusire Named Artistic Director of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA

Posted on by Kamil Walji

Institute and UCLA Welcome Incoming Class of 2025

Los Angeles, CA – Internationally acclaimed trumpeter and composer Ambrose Akinmusire has been named Artistic Director of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA. A 2007 graduate of the program, he will return to guide and encourage the next generation of jazz artists.

Six extraordinary young jazz musicians from around the world were selected for the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA, Class of 2025. Each will begin the intensive, full-scholarship program in September 2023 and attain a Master of Music in Jazz Performance degree from The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music – one of the nation’s top music schools – in spring 2025.

The Class of 2025 includes drummer Ebs Daramola of Assen, Netherlands and Lagos, Nigeria; bassist Destiny Diggs of Newark, NJ; alto saxophonist Alden Hellmuth of Hartford, CT; pianist Miles Lennox of Fort Lauderdale, FL; tenor saxophonist Sasha Ripley of Houston, TX; and Yakiv Tsvietinskyi of Dnipro, Ukraine. The musicians were selected through a rigorous application process culminating in an audition judged by legendary pianist Herbie Hancock; renowned musician, producer and philanthropist Herb Alpert; Ambrose Akinmusire and Walter Smith III, Institute of Jazz Performance classmates and renowned touring and recording artists.

Akinmusire noted, “Having been a student and later a judge, mentor and teacher in this program, I look forward to sharing my knowledge and continuing the legacy and impact of the Herbie Hancock Institute.”

Herbie Hancock added, “Ambrose is the perfect person to inspire the students of the Institute of Jazz Performance. I remember working with him when he was a student in the program, and watching him develop over the years has been really exciting. Now he will be able to cultivate a new wave of creative artists through his role in the program.”

In addition to being an Institute of Jazz Performance alumnus, Akinmusire won first place honors in the Institute’s 2007 International Trumpet Competition. A two-time GRAMMY nominee, he received a Doris Duke Impact Award and was named a Doris Duke Artist. In his role as Artistic Director, he will follow in the footsteps of previous Artistic Directors trumpeter Terence Blanchard and bassist Ron Carter, two celebrated musicians who taught Akinmusire during his time in the program.

Launched in 1995, the Institute of Jazz Performance accepts one ensemble of musicians for each class and provides them with unparalleled opportunities to study jazz and its defining element of improvisation with master musicians, composers and educators. All students receive full scholarships, along with stipends to cover their monthly living expenses. This enables them to be fully immersed in their education and development as artists.

Throughout each academic year, world-renowned jazz masters serve as Artists-in-Residence, teaching and performing with the students. Artists-in-Residence have included Kenny Barron, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Jack DeJohnette, Nnenna Freelon, Roy Haynes, Jimmy Heath, Dave Holland, Wynton Marsalis, Jason Moran, Lewis Nash, Danilo Pérez, Dianne Reeves, John Scofield, Wayne Shorter, and Clark Terry, among many others. In addition, the students receive composition instruction from multi-GRAMMY Award winner Billy Childs and study improvisation with Jerry Bergonzi and Dick Oatts, two of the world’s top jazz improvisation experts.

The aspiring musicians study both individually and as a small group, receiving personal mentoring, ensemble coaching, and lectures on the jazz tradition. They are also encouraged to experiment in expanding jazz in new directions through their compositions and performances. A music business and technology component helps prepare the students for their careers as professional musicians.

Under the mentorship of their acclaimed instructors, the college students, collectively known as the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble at UCLA, present high-profile concerts and lead jazz education and community outreach programs in Los Angeles, across the United States and around the world. In recent years, students have performed at International Jazz Day events in Istanbul, Turkey; Osaka, Japan; Paris, France; Havana, Cuba; St. Petersburg, Russia; Sydney and Melbourne, Australia; and the White House. They also have participated in performance and education tours of Argentina, Chile, China, Egypt, India, Jordan, Morocco, Peru, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam with Herbie Hancock.

Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance alumni – including Ambrose Akinmusire, Lionel Loueke, Gretchen Parlato, Walter Smith III, Dayna Stephens and Helen Sung, along with many others – have gone on to major careers as performing and recording artists, composers and educators.

Institute President Tom Carter said, “The Institute is pleased to welcome Ambrose Akinmusire in this new role. As a leader of his generation, he will be one of the artists that will be innovating this music for years to come. Under his direction, the incoming class of students will join our growing family of influential artists who are creative forces in the world of music, education and beyond.”

The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Inaugural Dean Eileen Strempel shared, “The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA attracts the best rising jazz talent to study with some of the world’s finest jazz artists. With Ambrose Akinmusire as Artistic Director of the program, the students at the Institute and UCLA will have access to an important voice in jazz. We are delighted to welcome him into our family, to continue our twelve-year partnership with the Institute and to welcome our sixth class of phenomenal artists.”

Ambrose Akinmusire

Internationally renowned recording artist and composer Ambrose Akinmusire is one of the top trumpeters and composers in jazz today and a true leader in creative music. A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, the Institute of Jazz Performance and winner of the Institute’s International Trumpet Competition, he has proven himself one of the most vital and deft musicians of his generation. In recent years, Akinmusire has won DownBeat and Jazz Times Critics and Readers Polls and received Germany’s ECHO Award as Instrumentalist of the Year. His debut release, When the Heart Emerges Glistening, topped critics’ lists at The New York Times and Los Angeles Times, and earned him the Grand Prix from France’s l’Academie du Jazz. A former Blue Note recording artist, Akinmusire has performed at Carnegie Hall and other major venues, and at international jazz festivals including Barcelona, Copenhagen, Monterey, North Sea and Umbria. He is a Doris Duke Impact Awardee and a Doris Duke Artist and has served as Resident Artistic Director for SFJazz. Akinmusire has released six albums of his own and has appeared on dozens of others, earning him two GRAMMY nominations. Besides being a cutting-edge performer and prolific composer, Akinmusire is a dedicated educator who has presented jazz master classes around the globe. His latest recording is a solo trumpet album entitled Beauty is Enough.

Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA – Class of 2025

Ebs Daramola, drums, was born in the Netherlands and grew up in Nigeria and Perth, Western Australia. He was introduced to a wide variety of music and began studying jazz in high school. Daramola was named Outstanding Performer at the Western Australian Schools Jazz Festival in 2014 and 2017. He attended the James Morrison Academy at the University of South Australia, where he studied with James Morrison, Mat Jodrell, Jeff Clayton and Carl Mackey. Daramola has performed across Australia with James Muller, James Morrison, Angela Davis, William Barton and as the leader of his own groups.

Destiny Diggs, bass, was born in Newark, New Jersey and began studying music at age 10. She participated in the Jazz House Kids program and played in the New Jersey Youth Symphony and the Youth Orchestra of Essex. She was the winner of the National YoungArts Merit Double Bass Award. Diggs was awarded a full scholarship to attend the Manhattan School of Music. She has studied with Ron Carter, Buster Williams and James Genus, among others. Diggs has performed with Winard Harper, Jon Faddis and Willerm Delisfort. In 2023, she was named a Sister in Jazz by the Jazz Education Network.

Alden Hellmuth, alto saxophone, was born and raised in Hartford, Connecticut. She studied saxophone with Kris Davis at the Greater Hartford Academy for the Arts and was awarded a full scholarship to attend the Hartt School’s Jackie McLean Institute, where she studied with Abraham Burton. Hellmuth was selected to participate in Focusyear in Basel, Switzerland, where she studied with Miguel Zenón, Larry Grenadier and Lionel Loueke. She was a semifinalist for the New Music USA Next Jazz Legacy program and received the Dorothy Goodwin Scholarship for her work honoring women. Hellmuth has toured with Jeremy Pelt and Louis Hayes, and arranged music for Moses Sumney and Brandee Younger.

Miles Lennox, piano, was born in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He attended the Dillard Center for Arts, where he studied with Stephen Scott. Lennox has participated in the GRAMMY Camp, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Summer Jazz Camp, the Florida All-State Jazz Band and the YoungArts program. He received his bachelor’s degree from the Manhattan School of Music. Lennox has studied with Stefon Harris, Marc Cary, Phil Markowitz and Jimmy Petullo, and has performed with jazz greats including Wynton Marsalis, Sean Jones, Jon Faddis and Bobby Watson.

Sasha Ripley, tenor saxophone, was born and raised in Houston and began studying saxophone at age 13. He attended the Kinder High School for Visual and Performing Arts, where he graduated with a Distinguished Level of Achievement diploma. Ripley attended the Skidmore Jazz Camp and participated in the Herbie Hancock Institute’s Peer-to-Peer tours, performing with Sean Jones and Antonio Hart. He was awarded a full-tuition scholarship to attend the Berklee College of Music, where he participated in the Global Jazz Institute and studied with Danilo Pérez, John Patitucci, Tia Fuller, Kurt Elling and Gary Bartz. Ripley has performed extensively across the country with a variety of artists.

Yakiv Tsvietinskyi, trumpet, was born and raised in Dnipro, Ukraine and began his music studies on piano at age 6. He received his undergraduate degree from the M. Glinka Academy of Music. While in college, he participated in the Making Music Across Borders program. Tsvietinskyi received a Fulbright grant for education, which enabled him to attend Western Michigan University and attain a master’s degree. He also participated in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center, where he had the opportunity to study with Jason Moran. A recipient of two DownBeat Student Music Awards, Tsvietinskyi was accepted into the Focusyear program in Basel, Switzerland. He has taught music in Dnipro, Kyiv and Lviv.

ABOUT THE HERBIE HANCOCK INSTITUTE OF JAZZ

The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz is a nonprofit education organization with a mission to offer the world’s most promising young musicians college level training by internationally acclaimed jazz masters and to present public school music education programs for young people around the world. The Institute preserves, perpetuates and expands jazz as a global art form, and utilizes jazz as a means to unite people of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities. All of the Institute’s programs are provided free of charge to students, schools and communities worldwide. The Institute’s programs use jazz as the medium to encourage imaginative thinking, creativity, a positive self-image, and respect for one’s own and others’ cultural heritage. Founded in 1986 as the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, the organization began operating as the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz in 2019 in recognition of Mr. Hancock’s commitment to the Institute since its establishment, his expert guidance as Institute Chairman, and his immense contributions to and impact on music, education and humanity.

ABOUT THE HERB ALPERT SCHOOL OF MUSIC AT UCLA

In January 2016, the University of California Board of Regents formally established the Herb Alpert School of Music as UCLA’s 12th professional school and the first music school in the University of California system. Created in 2007 with a $30 million gift from the Herb Alpert Foundation, the school sets a new standard for 21st century music schools by balancing performance and scholarship, and by embracing classical western music, world music and jazz, and popular contemporary music. With more than 580 undergraduate and graduate students, the school offers 15 bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degree programs through three highly rated academic departments, each with internationally acclaimed faculty. The Department of Music competes for students with the nation’s top music schools. It provides intensive individual studio instruction, thorough theoretical training and full participation in large and small ensembles, and offers many degree tracks including the M.M. degree in conjunction with the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz. The Department of Ethnomusicology is the only one of its kind in the U.S. and the most celebrated program in the world for the study of diverse musical cultures. The Department of Musicology teaches and conducts research on jazz, heavy metal, techno, musical theater, and other forms of popular music as well as European classical music. The National Research Council recently recognized UCLA Musicology as the top ranked academic music doctoral program in the U.S.

The Institute goes virtual in response to COVID-19

Posted on by Will Ramsey

With schools across the country closed indefinitely and state and local governments encouraging self-isolation and shelter-in-place strategies, the Institute is deploying its industry-leading educational resources and award-winning teaching staff to support students, parents and educators across the United States. Programs like Jazz in the Classroom and the National Performing Arts High Schools initiative are still being offered via Zoom to our partner schools in Baltimore, Chicago, Dallas, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New Orleans, San Francisco, Washington, D.C. and beyond.

Working closely with band directors and music teachers at each school, each online session is tailored to the needs of each student or ensemble and includes lessons in jazz history, theory and improvisation, transcription, key jazz repertoire and technical skills, including “gap” areas in student knowledge that can be adeptly addressed through virtual learning such as reading and playing syncopated rhythms. 

NEW Online Summer Sessions Announced

The Institute recently announced that it would be offering a series of free online summer sessions for students from grades 4 through 12, based on the innovative Jazz in America and BeBop to Hip-Hop education programs.

Beginning on June 22, Institute Vice President for Education and Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas will lead a virtual webinar series using the Jazz in America jazz history and appreciation curriculum. Each age-appropriate session will take students on a fun, fascinating journey through jazz. Sessions will be offered in three groups: grades 10-12 (June 22-July 8), grades 7-9 (July 13-29) and grades 4-6 (August 3-12). Learn more and register for the free Zoom sessions today.

On June 25, Institute staff and teaching artists will offer a 10-week BeBop to Hip-Hop Masterclass Series, at no cost to participants, for up to 100 students across the country. Aspiring producers, musicians and rappers will create music with guidance from renowned music industry professionals. Students will have opportunities to collaborate virtually on original music projects. Applications must be received by Tuesday, June 23. Find out how to submit your materials today.

We Need Your Help to Offer the Best in Jazz Education–Now Online

Institute Chairman Herbie Hancock explains how the Institute is updating its programming in response to the coronavirus.

Have a look at how students across our programs, from the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music to Jazz in the Classroom, have been continuing their students virtually:

The Institute will continually update this post with new distance learning resources geared to students of all ages. Stay tuned, and stay healthy!

Newport Festivals Foundation supports Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA with donation of instruments

Posted on by Will Ramsey

The Newport Festivals Foundation made a generous donation of musical instruments to the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music, helping to ensure that current and future students in the program will have access to top-of-the-line tools for honing their craft.

The Sakae drumset, Zildjian cymbals and Korg Kronos keyboard contributed by the Foundation will be used by the Institute’s students throughout the year as they study, compose, rehearse and perform under the guidance of Institute Chairman Herbie Hancock and Artists-in-Residence like Christian McBride, Terri Lyne Carrington, Billy Childs, Chris Potter and many others.

The leading graduate-level college program of its kind, the Institute of Jazz Performance is a tuition-free, two-year program that accepts one ensemble of musicians for each class. All of the students receive full scholarships, as well as stipends to cover their monthly living expenses. The musicians study both individually and as a small group, receiving personal mentoring, ensemble coaching, and lectures on the jazz tradition. They are also encouraged to experiment in expanding jazz in new directions through their compositions and performances.

The Institute and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music thank the Newport Festivals Foundation for its generosity, and for bolstering our efforts to help exceptional students develop into the jazz masters of tomorrow.

Application open for college program class entering fall 2020

Posted on by Will Ramsey

Formerly known as the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance, the tuition-free two-year program accepts one ensemble of musicians for each class. Students study both individually and as a small group, receiving personal mentoring, ensemble coaching, and lectures on the jazz tradition from some of the world’s greatest living jazz musicians. 

Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter serve as the Institute’s Distinguished Professors. Artists-in-Residence have included Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Billy Childs, Kurt Elling, Benny Golson, Barry Harris, Stefon Harris, Jimmy Heath, Christian McBride, Jason Moran, Lewis Nash, Danilo Pérez, Dianne Reeves and John Scofield, along with Improvisation Artists-in-Residence Jerry Bergonzi and Dick Oatts, among others, and former Artistic Directors Terence Blanchard and Ron Carter.

For nearly 25 years, this innovative master’s level college program has played a leading role in training the next generation of jazz masters, including alumni Ambrose Akinmusire, Lionel Loueke, Gretchen Parlato and Walter Smith III.

Applications for the class entering fall 2020 may be submitted to study the following instruments: trumpet, saxophone, trombone, piano, electric guitar, acoustic bass, vibraphone, violin, drums, and vocals. A master’s degree from the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music for qualified applicants and a certificate from the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance will be awarded upon successful completion of the two-year program. All students receive full scholarships as well as stipends to cover their monthly living expenses.

Prospective students can apply online now through December 6, 2019. For any questions, please email apply@hancockinstitute.org or call +1 (310) 206-9700.

International Jazz Day 2019 Education Program puts focus on the students

Posted on by Will Ramsey

April 30, 2019 — International Jazz Day 2019 celebrations came to a close today with a series of free master classes, performances and other activities for students at the renowned Melbourne Conservatorium of Music and other locations around the city.

Students from local and regional institutions benefitted from educational sessions conducted by internationally-acclaimed artists including Antonio Hart (USA), Eric Reed (USA) and Eli Degibri (Israel), all offered at the University of Melbourne’s sparkling new Ian Potter Southbank Centre. Participating students hailed from across the state of Victoria and beyond, and represented a range of skill levels, ages and backgrounds.

In his workshop, backed by a trio of Melburnian student musicians, Hart emphasized the importance of the dance music roots of jazz. The saxophonist got the audience moving with an interactive demonstration of the swing time-feel, and challenged attendees to expand their musical vocabularies into all 12 keys. Ideally, “keys shouldn’t exist” for players, intoned Hart, before launching a half-dozen local saxophonists into Thelonious Monk’s “Straight, No Chaser.”

Eli Degibri used his clinic to stress the importance of building a musical vocabulary from one’s influences, while also developing an original voice. Degibri, who graduated from the Institute’s Jazz Performance program in 1999, spoke about the humbling experience of touring with Institute Chairman Herbie Hancock as well as his latest project, which pays tribute to Soul Station,the signature soul jazz album by legendary saxophonist Hank Mobley. Degibri also gave a performative demonstration of the expressive range of the saxophone, encouraging students to follow the example of players like Joe Henderson by exploiting the instrument’s uncanny ability to imitate other instruments, like the flute.

The seven Fellows from the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music contributed individual master classes focused on instrumental technique, group dynamics and improvisational mechanics. Additionally, Dr. J.B. Dyas, the Institute’s Vice President of Education and Curriculum Development, hosted a clinic focused on improving tune learning and retention. Enthusiastic throngs of amateur and professional musicians—including multiple faculty members from the Melbourne Conservatorium—moved from room to room, soaking up insights from the visiting musicians.

The April 30 program was the last in a three-day series of educational outreach programs organized in honor of International Jazz Day. The festivities began on April 26 in Sydney, where Institute Chairman Herbie Hancock, International Jazz Day 2019 Co-Artistic Director James Morrison and other artists packed the iconic Sydney Opera House for a day of intensive workshops with students from the state of New South Wales. Programs there were organized in cooperation with the Opera House and The Arts Unit of the NSW Department of Education. Activities continued on April 29 at the Melbourne Conservatorium’s Federation Hall with engaging presentations from Hancock, pianist A Bu (China), vocalist Michael Mayo (USA) and Australian didgeridoo master William Barton.

Vocalist and Institute Class of 2018 graduate Michael Mayo (right) gives feedback to a vocal student during the International Jazz Day 2019 Daytime Educational Program, April 29, 2019. Steve Mundinger/Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz

Spotlight on the organizers

The day’s highlight was a panel discussion and presentation featuring six International Jazz Day organizers from around the globe. The session showed a cross-section of community leaders and cultural advocates who devote their time and resources to curating Jazz Day events each year at all levels of society, often with little or no remuneration. 

Participants included:

  • Roman Khristyuk, Director of the Igor Butman Foundation (Russia)
  • Paolo Petrocelli, Founder, Italian Youth Association for UNESCO
  • Aya Sekine, Founder, We Love Jazz SG (Singapore)
  • Brenda Sisane, Director, International Jazz Day South Africa
  • Peta Si’ulepa, Director, Samoana Jazz Arts Festival (Samoa)
  • Tarek Yamani, Founder, Beirut Speaks Jazz (Lebanon)

Attendees, including UNESCO Assistant Director-General for Culture Ernesto Ottone, heard about the unique challenges of building a jazz culture in locales like Singapore, Samoa and Lebanon, and how International Jazz Day has in many cases catalyzed significant transformations on the local cultural landscape.

“Our organizers are the heart and soul of International Jazz Day,” said Program & Outreach Director Mika Shino. “Their tireless efforts ensure that, far from being limited to one day, the positive effects of this special program resonate throughout the year. For many in the Jazz Day family, the inspiration created on April 30 translates to increased attendance at live jazz performances, new jazz education opportunities for student musicians, and a richer artistic and cultural life for entire communities.”

A global cohort of International Jazz Day organizers participate in the annual “Jazz Day Around the World” panel discussion at the Melbourne Conservatorium of Music, April 30, 2019. Steve Mundinger/Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz

The moving stories of this select group of organizers, coming on the eve of the culminating All-Star Global Concert at Melbourne’s Hamer Hall, spoke volumes about the true purpose of International Jazz Day: sharing experiences, and music, across cultures and geographic boundaries. As part of his introduction for a master class during the Melbourne celebrations, the renowned visual artist, academic and opera singer Tiriki Onus told audience members to pause for a moment and listen. He asked them to think about the voices of the elders who had shared stories on that very spot for more than two-and-a-half thousand generations.

“What we do here,” said Onus, “singing our songs, dancing our dances, telling our stories, is no different from what those old people have done—whether we are playing on boomerangs and possum skin drums, or on a double bass and a Bösendorfer. The gift that we bring this country is our stories; the stories that we pour in here.”

Master class with Herbie Hancock, James Morrison and the Hancock Institute Fellows presented at the Sydney Opera House in honor of International Jazz Day 2019. Sydney Opera House

International Jazz Day 2019 education programs were made possible in part through the generous support of the Carnival Corporation.

Christian McBride Holds Free Master Class During February Residency

Posted on by Will Ramsey

Master jazz bassist and nationally recognized broadcaster Christian McBride punctuated his weeklong residency at the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA with a free master class at the Jan Popper Theater last Tuesday. The packed session was webcast live via the Herb Alpert School of Music’s website.

Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Artist-in-Residence Christian McBride (center) performs with the Institute’s Class of 2020 during his February 12 master class at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Photo: Holly Wallace / Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz

“For some reason, in jazz, when you see female musicians, people tend to [say] ‘that’s unusual.’ We want that to stop.”

Hosted by Hancock Institute West Coast Director Daniel Seeff, the master class featured live performances with the Institute’s Jazz Performance Ensemble and a Q&A session in which McBride addressed a wide range of topics, including gender equality in music. “For some reason, in jazz, when you see female musicians, people tend to [say] ‘that’s unusual,’” noted McBride. “We want that to stop.”

Institute West Coast Director Daniel Seeff (right) interviews Artist-in-Residence Christian McBride during McBride’s master class at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music. Photo: Holly Wallace / Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz

The Tuesday evening event was a highlight of McBride’s latest residency at the Institute’s two-year Jazz Performance program. Over the course of the week, the jazz master worked directly with the Institute’s Class of 2020, both as an ensemble and individually, as well as with students from the broader UCLA community. He also served as a guest lecturer for two UCLA courses—Distinguished Professor Robert Winter’s Analysis for Performers and Jazz and Political Imagination, taught by UCLA Distinguished Professor and Gary B. Nash Endowed Chair in U.S. History Robin Kelley.

A six-time Grammy winner, the Philadelphia-born McBride is one of the most requested, most recorded, and most respected figures in the music world today. He currently hosts “The Lowdown” on SiriusXM and NPR’s “Jazz Night in America.”

Intensive learning opportunities with masters of the music are a hallmark of the Institute of Jazz Performance program. Past Artists-in-Residence have included NEA Jazz Masters Dee Dee Bridgewater, Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, Dianne Reeves and Wayne Shorter, among many others.

Learn more about the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance.

Local to the Los Angeles area? Sign up for our Los Angeles area events mailing list and stay informed about future master classes and other free, public events.

Robert Hurst Concludes Weeklong Residency at Institute of Jazz Performance

Posted on by Will Ramsey

Today capped a memorable weeklong residency with acclaimed jazz bassist Robert Hurst at the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance. A seven-time GRAMMY Award winner, Hurst shared his decades of experience and insight with members of the Institute’s Class of 2020 as well as students at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music—a special benefit of the program’s ongoing partnership with UCLA.

During his time on campus, Hurst worked in-depth with the seven Institute students both in a full ensemble format and one-on-one. He also conducted private lessons for UCLA undergraduate bassists.

UCLA undergraduate bassists with January 2019 Artist-in-Residence Robert Hurst. Photo by Holly Wallace / Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance

A highlight of every Institute residency is the visiting artists’ master classes, offered for free to UCLA students, local musicians and members of the public as opportunities to learn directly from true masters of the music. Hurst’s, which took place on Wednesday, January 9, saw the Tonight Showveteran break down critical elements of performance and technique. For his live musical examples, Hurst was ably assisted by the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble. 

A Detroit native, Robert Hurst has enjoyed a stellar, 30-year career as a highly respected GRAMMY and Emmy Award-winning electric and acoustic bassist, composer, educator and recording artist. He performed in the bands on NBC’s The Tonight Show with Jay Lenoand Saturday Night Live. Currently, Hurst serves as Associate Professor of Music at the University of Michigan School of Music, Theatre & Dance and directs the university’s chamber jazz ensembles. 

He has performed on over 150 critically acclaimed recordings and toured with artists including Sir Paul McCartney, Charles Lloyd, Wynton Marsalis, Dave Brubeck, Terence Blanchard, Tony Williams, Nicholas Payton, Sting, Pharoah Sanders, Barbra Streisand, Willie Nelson and Yo-Yo Ma. Hurst’s latest recording, Black Current Jam, was selected as one of the Best Albums of 2018 by DownBeatMagazine.

Learn more about the Institute’s college program.

Artist-in-Residence Carl Allen Leads Free Master Class at UCLA

Posted on by Will Ramsey

The Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music presented the school year’s first public master class by an Institute teaching artist, featuring the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble. Artist-in-Residence Carl Allen led the session, which was offered free of charge at UCLA’s Jan Popper Theater.

Hosted by UCLA Department of Ethnomusicology Jazz Performance Lecturer Clayton Cameron, the master class included a question/answer session and musical demonstrations. The latter saw Allen perform alongside the members of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Class of 2020.

Drummer Carl Allen performs with the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble. Musicians onstage include a pianist, a harmonicist, a trumpeter, a tenor saxophonist, a bassist and an alto saxophonist.
Artist-in-Residence Carl Allen (far right) performs with the members of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance Class of 2020 during a free master class at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music: (from left) Paul Cornish, Malachi Whitson, Roni Eytan, Aidan Lombard, Chris Lewis, Emma Dayhuff and Lenard Simpson. Photo: Holly Wallace

With more than 200 recordings to his credit, Carl Allen is an in-demand drummer, sideman, bandleader and educator who performs and teaches around the world. The master class at UCLA kicked off Allen’s weeklong residency at the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA, where he will conduct ensemble workshops, give private lessons and provide instruction in composition and improvisation.

Intensive learning opportunities with masters of the music is a hallmark of the Institute of Jazz Performance program. Past Artists-in-Residence have included Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ron Carter, Benny Golson, Jimmy Heath, and Dianne Reeves, among others.

Learn more about the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance.

Local to the Los Angeles area? Sign up for our Los Angeles area events mailing listand stay informed about future master classes and other free, public events.

Institute of Jazz Performance at the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music Welcomes Class of 2020

Posted on by Will Ramsey

The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance and the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music welcomed seven talented new students to the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA program today. The cohort begins two years of intensive study with the world’s greatest living jazz masters, and offers the opportunity for each student to earn a Master of Music in Jazz Performance degree from UCLA.

The Class of 2020, the Hancock institute’s 12th, includes pianist Paul Cornish, bassist Emma Dayhuff, harmonicist Roni Eytan, tenor saxophonist Chris Lewis, trumpeter Aidan Lombard, alto saxophonist Lenard Simpson and drummer Malachi Whitson. Each a highly accomplished musician, in the coming months the seven students will form a cohesive band that, in addition to receiving daily instruction as a unit, will serve as ambassadors for the program, teaching and performing throughout the Los Angeles area and around the world.

Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA Class of 2020 (l-r): Roni Eytan, Aidan Lombard, Paul Cornish, Emma Dayhuff, Lenard Simpson, Chris Lewis, Malachi Whitson. Photo by Reed Hutchinson/Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz

The new cohort was selected through a rigorous application process culminating in an audition judged by jazz luminaries Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, James Newton and Ambrose Akinmusire, who is a graduate of the program. Hancock is Chairman of the Institute’s board of trustees and Shorter is an Institute trustee; both are adjunct professors in the Herb Alpert School of Music, along with UCLA professor James Newton.

Over the course of the academic year, the Class of 2020 will study and perform with a litany of world-renowned jazz artists, honing their skills both on and off the bandstand. Artists-in-Residence have included Kenny Barron, Terence Blanchard, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Terri Lyne Carrington, Ron Carter, Jack DeJohnette, Nnenna Freelon, Barry Harris, Roy Haynes, Jimmy Heath, Dave Holland, Wynton Marsalis, Jason Moran, Lewis Nash, Danilo Pérez, Dianne Reeves, and John Scofield, among many others. In addition, the students will receive composition instruction from GRAMMY Award winner Billy Childs and study improvisation with Jerry Bergonzi and Dick Oatts – two of the world’s top jazz improvisation experts.

Under the mentorship of these acclaimed instructors, the students, collectively known as the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance Ensemble at UCLA, present high-profile concerts and lead education and community outreach programs in Los Angeles, across the United States and around the world. Previous ensembles recently performed at International Jazz Day events in St. Petersburg, Russia; Havana, Cuba; and the White House. They also participated in performance and education tours of Argentina, Chile, China, Egypt, India, Morocco, Peru, Russia, Thailand and Vietnam with Herbie Hancock.

About the Institute of Jazz Performance

Launched in 1995, the Institute of Jazz Performance accepts one ensemble of musicians for each class and provides unparalleled opportunities to study jazz and its defining element of improvisation with master musicians, composers and educators. All students receive full scholarships, along with stipends to cover their monthly living expenses. This enables them to be fully immersed in their education and development as artists.

Institute of Jazz Performance alumni – including Ambrose Akinmusire, Lionel Loueke, Gretchen Parlato, Walter Smith III, Dayna Stephens and Helen Sung, along with many others – have gone on to major careers as performing and recording artists, touring the world with legendary jazz musicians and as leaders of their own groups.

The Institute welcomes the Class of 2020 and looks forward to seeing their growth and accomplishments over the next two years.

Learn more about the Institute’s college program.

About the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music

The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is the first – and only – school of music in the University of California system. With more that 450 undergraduate and graduate students, the school offers bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees through four independent but complementary departments and programs: Ethnomusicology, Global Jazz Studies, Music, and Musicology. The school’s exceptional approach to education provides students with academic opportunities that balance cutting-edge scholarship, performance mastery, and composition, with access to a leading music industry program. Rigorous and improvisational, the school encourages and embraces the exploration of music in all its contemporary and historical diversity. Students have a multitude of performance opportunities and access to world-class archives, music collections, dedicated centers of study and stellar faculty. Within UCLA’s interdisciplinary environment, the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music is the portal through which music engages with other disciplines on campus and beyond.

Learn more about the UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music.

Institute Students, Alumni Represented at 23rd Central Avenue Jazz Festival

Posted on by Will Ramsey

Students in the Institute’s Los Angeles-area public school-based education programs received top billing at last weekend’s Central Avenue Jazz Festival, a decades-old LA institution. Also on offer were multiple ensembles led by alumni of both the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance and the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Competitions.

On Saturday, June 28th, the Thelonious Monk Institute / LAUSD All-City Big Band delivered an hourlong set of classic and contemporary music on the Etta James Stage. A collaboration between the Institute and the Los Angeles Unified School District’s Beyond the Bell after-school program, the All-City band enlists some of the district’s most talented student musicians for regular instruction and rehearsal with master teaching artists, as well as high-profile public performances throughout the year. Trombonist Ido Meshulam, from the Institute of Jazz Performance Class of 2016, and trumpeter Chad Willis served as special guests for the performance.

Separately, the Thelonious Monk Institute / LAUSD All-Star Combo gave a 45-minute performance at the nearby Dunbar Hotel. An historic property, in its heyday the Dunbar routinely hosted top names in jazz, including Duke Ellington and Billie Holiday, and formed a key locale for Los Angeles’ African-American community in the 1930s and ’40s.

Conducted by Institute Vice President of Education & Curriculum Development Dr. JB Dyas, the Thelonious Monk Institute / LAUSD All-City Big Band performs on the Etta James Stage during the 23rd annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival.

Later in the day, the festival hosted a special “All-Star Alumni Jam Session” on its Jazz Improv stage, featuring a house band made up of recent alumni of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance. Alto saxophonist Alex Hahn ’18, pianist Miro Sprague ’14, bassist Alex Boneham ’16 and drummer Christian Euman ’16 kept things swinging for nearly four hours while a packed crowd of local musicians, including festival performers and students from the All-City Band, sat in and played.

LAUSD Beyond the Bell Visual & Performing Arts Coordinator Tony White with the Institute’s All-Star Alumni band: Miro Sprague ’14, Alex Hahn ’18, Christian Euman ’16 and Alex Boneham ’16.

Highlights of the program on Sunday, June 29thincluded a performance by the Katalyst collective, led by alto saxophonist and Institute of Jazz Performance Class of 2016 graduate David Otis, as well as sets by Institute Class of 2003 graduate and Vocals Competition winner Gretchen Parlato and Vocals Competition semifinalist Tierney Sutton.

Now in its 23rdyear, the annual Central Avenue Jazz Festival is a featured event on the Los Angeles cultural calendar. Offered entirely free and open to the public, the festival pays tribute to the historic Central Avenue corridor, at one time an “epicenter of West Coast jazz” where legendary artists like Dexter Gordon, Charles Mingus, Dinah Washington and Cab Calloway performed. Previous festival lineups have boasted an array of established jazz artists and rising stars, including Kenny Burrell, Pete Escovedo, Gerald Wilson, Kamasi Washington and many others.