Columbia University Center for Jazz Studies and Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program

At the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University, jazz becomes a music without borders that provides new models for innovative teaching and scholarly inquiry in the arts, humanities, and sciences. In contrast to university jazz centers that operate on a performance-based model, jazz studies at Columbia University is a diverse, interdisciplinary liberal arts endeavor, reflecting local, national, and international perspectives on the field in its integration of academic and performance work. Since its founding in 1999, the Center for Jazz Studies has been integrated into Columbia’s renowned Core Curriculum. The Center’s faculty offers at least four major courses per year on jazz, attracting about 500 students, and supports a jazz studies special concentration.

The Louis Armstrong Jazz Performance Program offers jazz performance instruction and experience to both undergraduate and graduate students. This vibrant program now comprises seventeen jazz ensembles, fourteen gifted professional jazz musicians who provide private lessons and ensemble coaching, a visiting Master Artist program, courses in jazz improvisation and composition, and a Special Concentration in Jazz.  

Visit the the Center for Jazz Studies at Columbia University website