Have you wanted to learn a bit more about improvisation on your instrument? The Blair Academy has expanded our offerings in jazz this year with our top-notch jazz faculty. Our new jazz courses, which complement our existing private lesson offerings in jazz, provide students the opportunity to improvise with other musicians and engage with the jazz canon. If you are interested in private lessons in jazz, a complete list of our offerings can be found here.
Contact Marc Widenhofer for more information about our Blair Academy Jazz offerings. Registration and enrollment questions can be directed to Elm Stephenson, the Blair Academy registrar.
Spring 2025 Courses
Academy Jazz Listening
Have you ever wanted to learn more about jazz without the pressures of performance? This class will focus on some of jazz's major contributors through selected listening, all while studying what makes them unique. We will study performance practices, commonalities between artists, and some of their important compositions. The course will introduce students to new music and start them on a path to jazz performance.
Academy Jazz Combo
Provides focused laboratory training for performance of composed and improvised small combo jazz traditions. Discussion and application of techniques associated with solo, sectional, and ensemble performance in jazz.
Programs and Classes
- Blair Academy Student Handbook
- Register for Academy Classes
- Scholarships & Financial Aid
- Vanderbilt Youth Orchestras
- Vanderbilt Youth Choirs
- Vanderbilt Suzuki Program
- Private Lessons
- Fiddle
- Chamber Music and Collaborative Piano
- Beginning and Partner Piano
- Music Theory and Aural Skills
- Musicology and Ethnomusicology
- Blair Hit Songwriter Series
- Parking