Lafayette Summer Music Workshop

This music workshop provides an intimate environment for learning and playing the language of jazz. Working sessions are designed to be small and are each led by a professional musician. www.lafsmw.org

Generations in Jazz Festival

This weeklong community Festival features “Students and Stars” from the local Middle and High School music programs. Professional musicians, many of whom are successful recording artists, participate in visiting the local schools leading up to the performances and work with the students on improving their performance skills. Each evening performance features a student band with an adult professional band. This way the students have a chance to “sit in” with the more experienced musicians and participate in a performance setting.

Recording Arts Projects
Each year community CDs and Video projects are launched utilizing local students, music educators, professional musicians and parent volunteers. This project is designed to introduce the students to the world of the Recording Arts.  Students can utilize these recordings to submit for admittance into Music Schools and Universities.

Jazz Honor Bands
Generations in Jazz Foundation organizes an Honor Band Program for local High and Middle Schools that provides a learning environment, rewards students for setting goals, achieving outstanding accomplishments and completing milestones in Jazz.   Most recent Honor bands represented Contra Costa County and were led by Mary Fettig and Bob Athayde.

Jazz Outreach Classes

Music Educators coupled with local professional recording artists and volunteers, collaborate to present the finer art of improvisation and jazz combo basics.

Instrument Donation Drive
Coordinated by volunteers, Generations in Jazz collects used instruments and coordinates the distribution of these back into the community with the assistance of the local music educators.

Student Mentorships

In cooperation with the Big Band of Rossmoor, local students have an opportunity to both participate in learning the sounds of big band as well as listen and learn from some of the professional musicians and arrangers.  Students participate in community concerts and local jazz festivals.