PROGRAMS

ANNUAL CONFERENCE

The annual JEN conference is our flagship program. Every January, thousands of jazz artists, educators, and enthusiasts gather together to learn, create, listen, and love on this unique original American art form.

photo by Frances Scanlon

young composer showcase

The Young Composer Showcase spotlights young jazz composers, giving students an opportunity to have an original composition recognized and performed at an international level.

JEN membership required to be eligible.

JEN is committed to representing and cultivating diversity in all areas of its operations, which includes, but is not limited to its staff, board members, volunteers, presenters, clinicians, performers, and audiences. This commitment is present in all programs. We are seeking and encourage individuals of all backgrounds to apply for the Young Composer Showcase.

photo by Cherie Hansson

SISTERS IN JAZZ

In an effort to support JEN’s overall commitment to represent and cultivate diversity and inclusion in jazz, the Jazz Education Network (JEN) Women in Jazz Committee offers the Sisters in Jazz Collegiate Combo Competition. Through this exemplary program, full-time university students identifying as young women or non-binary jazz artists ages 18-29 will audition and be selected to perform in the Sisters in Jazz quintet.

 At our annual conference, selectees rehearse and receive feedback from each year’s guest director. The quintet prepares two charts to premier at each JEN Conference.

photos by René Huemer

JENERATIONS JAZZ FESTIVAL

The JENerations Jazz Festival runs concurrently with the Annual JEN Conference. Our pilot program began in 2012, and with each passing year we have added space for MORE ensembles to participate, with a total of 3 venues. More than 800 elementary, middle, junior high, high school, community and college musicians of all ages participate in this exciting weekend of jazz each year!

We invite you to add your ensemble name to this ever-growing list! Join us in this enriching event where world-class education is delivered in a totally non-competitive, nurturing environment to your students!

photo by Bart Marantz

scholarships

JEN’s Scholarships program has been in existence since the organization’s first year and remains an important benefit to the members and students we serve.  Each year, we proudly recognize talented, hardworking, aspiring students with a passion for jazz. JEN now has eight scholarships to be awarded each year, including the brand new Dave Brubeck Living Legacy Scholarship and the Yamaha/Jim Widner Scholarship. We encourage students of all levels and abilities to apply for our JEN Scholarships.

online events

JEN’s Online Events are huge part of JEN’s Program offerings. We offer monthly research webinars, panel discussions, masterclasses, and a host of other online events through our Resource Library*, available only in our member portal. Subjects include research, technology, jazz industry and the music business, improvisation, and education. *Full Individual membership or equivalent required.

research

The Research arm of JEN is in full swing. Each year, the Research Committee publishes the JEN Research Journal, JAZZ Education in Research and Practice. Each volume contains compelling articles based on research over a wide range of topics, from instrument technique to conducting an efficient sound check to breaking down vocal improvisation! 

We also produce a free monthly research webinar series. JEN members can be in the Zoom room audience participating and interacting with the research guest.

JEN members may also apply to present research at the annual JEN conference, in the form of a research poster or presentation, or both.

awards

Each year, at the annual conference, it is JEN’s honor to recognize talented students, artists, and educators who have made a significant impact on jazz.  We offer awards in the following categories:

 

  • The Ellis Maraslis, Jr. Jazz Educator of the Year Award
  • The John LaPorta Jazz Educator of the Year Award
  • The LeJENds of Jazz Education Awars
  • The LeJENds of Latin Jazz Award
  • The Donald Meade Legacy Founders Award
  • The Presidents’ Service Award

photos by Frances Scanlon

charlotte lang

Swiss/Dutch saxophonist Charlotte Lang was born in 1996 in Basel and studied the bachelor and master program at the JAZZCAMPUS Basel under the guidance of Domenic Landolf and Daniel Blanc. She is currently studying the Master of Music in Global Jazz at the Berklee College of Music in Boston under the artistic direction of Danilo Pérez. In addition she is part of Terri Lyne Carrington’s Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice.

 

From 2015 to 2018, Charlotte she was a member of the Swiss National Youth Jazz Orchestra under the direction of Christian Muthspiel. Since 2020, she became a member of the German National Youth Jazz Orchestra (Bundesjazzorchester Deutschland), under the direction of Niels Klein and Ansgar Striepens. She also plays is the Austrian FJO (Frauen Jazz Orchester→Women Jazz Orchestra of Austria).

 

In 2021, Charlotte founded her own Quintet the „Charlotte Lang Group“, for what she is composing, arranging and booking. In the fall 2023, her first album will be recorded and hopefully released by a renowned label.

 

Charlotte plays in the “Swiss Jazz Orchestra” and the “Zurich Jazz Orchestra”, the two professional Big Bands of Switzerland.

Charlotte recently got the unique opportunity to write a monthly blog for the Swiss Jazz & Blues Magazine called JAZZTIME, to tell readers about her time at abroad and specifically her time at Berklee. Her graduate program lasts only until the summer of 2023. She hopes to stay in the United States to enlarge her network and build her musical career.