the dakota foundation for jazz education
is now
MINNESOTA JAZZ EDUCATION
MJE News
A Transition for Minnesota Jazz Education
Updated December 30, 2022
Minnesota Jazz Education to integrate programs with Walker|West Music Academy
Minnesota Jazz Education (MJE) is announcing a significant transition starting in 2023, integrating their programs with Walker|West Music Academy (WWMA) in St. Paul. MJE programs, including “Experience Jazz,“ the Youth Stage at Twin Cities Jazz Festival and in-school residencies will operate under “Walker|West Without Walls,” an ongoing strategic outreach initiative. Executive Director, Katia Cardenas, who has led much of MJE’s work over the past seven years, has joined WWMA as the Program Director of Walker|West Without Walls.
Registration Open for Jazz Piano Workshop
Updated December 30, 2022
MN JazzEd and Schubert Club presents this FREE in-person Jazz Piano Workshop for beginning though advanced piano students, Saturday, January 28th, 2023 9am-4pm at Inver Hills Community College. At this day-long workshop, students will be assigned one of four skills groups, led by one of these esteemed Twin Cities-based clinicians: Mary Louise Knutson, Dale Alexander, Kavyesh Kaviraj and Steven Hobert. Learn more about the clinicians and how to sign up.
Sign up by Tuesday, January 17, 2023.
Experience Jazz 2022 Auditions Announced
Updated September 7, 2022
The next round of auditions for Experience Jazz will take place September 24, 2022 11-1:30pm at High School for Recording Arts. Program dates are Saturdays 11am-1:30pm October 15-January 21 (off November 26, December 24 and 31). Students and families interested in auditioning are invited to complete an audition form. Sign up today!
Experience Jazz is an innovative ensemble experience connecting students across communities and genres. It’s a genre-bridging music ensemble program for instrumentalists, vocalists, rappers, DJs and other aspiring musical artists with a desire to make music rooted in jazz, pop and hip-hop, to create and collaborate together.
Summer Music Workshops 2022
Updated June 5, 2022
MN JazzEd presents Summer Music Workshops, including 3 stand-alone day-long workshops, taking place 10am-2:30pm. Includes Jazz Combo Workshop Monday, July 25, Songwriting Workshop Wednesday, July 27 and Bass Workshop Friday July 29. Each day will have a different artistic focus, led by leading professional artists from the Twin Cities and beyond!
Sign up for one workshop or all three. Open to youth musicians grades 7-12. Workshops are free for all participants, lunch provided. Registration required.
Jazz Piano Workshop Returns - Saturday, February 5th
Updated November 10, 2021
After a year off due to the pandemic, MN JazzEd and Schubert Club presents this FREE in-person Jazz Piano Workshop for beginning though advanced piano students, Saturday, February 5th 9am-4:30pm at Inver Hills Community College. At this day-long workshop, students will be assigned one of four skills groups, led by one of these esteemed Twin Cities-based clinicians: Mary Louise Knutson, Dale Alexander, Kavyesh Kaviraj and Doug Rohde. Learn more about the clinicians and how to sign up.
Sign up by Monday, January 17, 2022.
Free Improvisation Workshop - Saturday, October 9th at HSRA
Updated September 10, 2021
Improve and inspire your improvisation skills by exploring a diverse range of techniques and approaches. Minnesota Jazz Education (MN JazzEd) presents this FREE in-person improvisation workshop for high school musicians on Saturday, October 9 12-2pm at High School for Recording Arts in St. Paul. Register by Saturday, October 2 to secure your spot.
MN JazzEd's Youth Showcase at Twin Cities Jazz Festival
Updated September 8, 2021
MJE is excited to announce the “MN JazzEd Youth Showcase” at the 2021 Twin Cities Jazz Festival happening 1-3pm on Saturday 9/18 at The Black Dog Cafe. This showcase lineup will include:
– 1:00 High School for Recording Arts Showcase, featuring Rashad 502, Kyngyetta Brown and Izzy Melody
– 1:45 Jerome Treadwell Combo
– 2:30 Zach Studdiford Quartet
All performances are free to the public. See the full schedule for Twin Cities Jazz Festival at the button below.
Wrapping up an historic year of Experience Jazz 2021
Updated June 10, 2021
Experience Jazz 2021 was an historic year, starting online due to COVID-19 and moving partially in-person as the CDC and state-wide restrictions loosened. Students learned to make music online using Soundtrap, and learned about jazz harmonics and improvisation. When we moved in-person, students came to partner organization High School for Recording Arts to meet each other and play together for the first time, in a socially distanced environment. Students got to record in the HSRA’s state-of-the-art recording studio, Studio 4, and perform the pieces they’ve been practicing at outdoor pizza parties! Students who remained online created inspired and innovative compositions, and shared their work with families at a listening party on Zoom. This year was not without its twists and turns, but seeing these students learn and grow as musicians during such a challenging year was evidence that this work is impactful, important and necessary in our community. Click the bottom below to learn more about Experience Jazz!
Announcing MJE's First Executive Director
Updated May 12, 2021
Minnesota Jazz Education’s Board of Directors is excited to share some big news—the promotion of Katia Cardenas from Program Coordinator to our very first Executive Director!
Katia’s dedication to equity, to music education and to the community has been evident over the 5+ years she’s worked with us. We’re thankful for her ongoing passion and energy for Minnesota Jazz Education and are excited to work through her leadership toward expanding partnerships and programming to better-serve students and educators
DownBeat Magazine features Experience Jazz
Updated March 8, 2021
This month, DownBeat Magazine published a story about our Experience Jazz program. This is a monumental moment of recognition for our flagship program, which features interviews with Experience Jazz student Jerome Treadwell, teaching artist Scott Herold, Program Director Katia Cardenas and High School for Recording Arts (HSRA) Executive Director and MJE Board Member, Tony Simmons. View the full issue here.
Last year’s program, and the “Experience Jazz 2020: The Sounds of Distance” album students recorded from home, were made possible thanks to the hard work of teaching artists Omar Abdulkarim, L.A. Buckner and Scott Herold, studio interns and engineers Mickey Breeze and T.L. Reigns, and HSRA Student Publicist Kitty Langevin for her inspired PR work.
MJE is grateful for this incredible opportunity to share the story behind last years’ program with readers from across the country and beyond. We look forward to continuing this work, and making it accessibly to every student musician in our community.
Experience Jazz 2021 Accepting Applications Through March 5, 2021
Updated February 15, 2021
Experience Jazz is an innovative ensemble experience connecting students across communities and genres. It’s a genre-bridging music ensemble program for instrumentalists, vocalists, rappers, DJs and other aspiring musical artists with a desire to make music rooted in jazz, pop and hip-hop, to create and collaborate together.
Lead by Jeff Bailey with Cody LeDuc, Kavyesh Kaviraj with DeCarlo Jackson, Michel.Be with Mickey Breeze, this year’s program is will run online for 12 weeks, meeting Saturdays 10:30am-12:30pm on Zoom, March 20-June 12! Applications accepted through Friday, March 5, 2021.
Due to limited space, we encourage interested students to apply up as soon as possible.
Experience Jazz 2020 releases new music!
Updated October 29, 2020
“Experience Jazz 2020: The Sounds of Distance,” is available worldwide on all digital platforms! Download, stream and add to your playlists now on Spotify, iTunes, YouTube Music, and Bandcamp. Proceeds go to supporting Minnesota Jazz Education. Released on “Another Level Records,” High School for Recording Arts’ student-led record label. Learn the story behind this incredible album here.