Jazz Studies
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Mission Statement
The Jazz Studies Department at Indiana University's School of Music
offers a comprehensive program emphasizing classes in performance,
composition/arranging, jazz history, pedagogy, styles and analysis,
and large and small ensemble playing.
The department takes the position represented by the Janus mask,
that of simultaneously looking at both the past and the future,
thoroughly grounding our students in historical practice while
nurturing their exploration of new and contemporary styles. We are
also responsible to our students for the two-fold task of
acculturation and job preparation. Both are extremely important and
inextricably linked; and we believe very firmly in the
contextualization of information and the exposure of the jazz
experience in its totality.
The Jazz Studies Department faculty consists of five
teacher-performers with a wealth of experience and scholarly
knowledge. Our jazz students are a wonderful mix of undergraduates
and graduates, neophytes and seasoned young professionals. We make
every effort to meet each student's special needs while at the same
time maintaining our commitment to artistic excellence and
scholarship.
We have four large ensembles, which are constituted by qualitative
auditions, and a varying number of small groups. Both our large and
small ensembles play music that encompasses virtually all styles and
eras of jazz: classic repertory from the distant and near past,
contemporary music, and music that looks forward and embraces new
and exploratory styles. The performance and writing opportunities
which are a part of our program are many and varied.
The Indiana University School of Music is perennially rated by U.S.
News and World Report as one of the top two or three schools of
music/conservatories in the country and its Jazz Studies Department
one of the top five programs of its kind. The Jazz Studies
Department and its activities are thoroughly integrated into the
School of Music and into Indiana University at large. Our jazz
majors are at liberty to participate in any other ensembles or
classes offered, subject to required prerequisites.
Our educational facilities, performance venues, libraries, technical
equipment, rehearsal rooms, classrooms, recording studios, and
equipment are second to none, and our faculty and staff are among
the most renowned and celebrated in the world. Our students are
afforded the opportunity of studying with the finest applied music
teachers anywhere. Our jazz program was one of the first accredited
programs in a university.
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