Summer at JazzED means one thing: students playing music, loudly and joyfully.

After pausing four summer camps last year, the team was excited to enter the season in full force.

For five weeks, students from all over came to camps that ranged from reimagined second-line grooves to jazz fundamentals to song lyrics written entirely by the campers themselves. Here's a look back at what it sounded like.

Camp Recaps

Jazz Lab Camp, led by Kate Olson, gave students a home base in jazz performance, listening, and gigging. Listen to all of the songs they learned here.

Femme Jazz Camp, led by Audrey Stangland with support from Devon Rafanelli, created space for young women and gender-expansive students to build confidence and community through music.

Second Line Camp, led by Jerome Smith, Brian Bermudez, and Anna Mariko Seymour, brought the sound of New Orleans brass to Seattle, and then took it straight to the streets at Seafair’s Torchlight Parade.

Connections Camp, led by Steve Treseler and Birch Pereira, has students explore sound painting, improvisation, and more.

Foundations Camp, led by Shaina Ellis with support from teaching artists BJ Montoya, Anna Mariko Seymour, Pascale Montgomery, Birch Pereira, and Jahnvi Madan, welcomed our youngest and newest musicians into the world of jazz for the first time. These students went from learning how to put their instrument together on Monday morning to playing and soloing on Friday.

Each of these camps were also powered by a team of music educator interns, our next generation of teaching artists. In no particular order, we want to shout out and thank Amelia Fleishman, Katie Prindle, Emmett Bell, Lane Hansen, Ryan Acheson, Emily Gay, Luca Morales, Paul Nguyen, Gabriel Espitia, Schuyler Van Scoyoc, and Talli Kimani.

A special thank you to Lake Washington Girls Middle School for hosting Foundations Camp this summer and opening their space to our youngest musicians. Partnerships like this are what make it possible for JazzED to meet students where they are.

And another thank you to Sallie Ford for designing our summer shirts!

What our community had to say…

We asked our students to describe their summer camp in three words. Their answers say it all:

"Fun, inspiring, entertaining."
"Fun, learning, musical."
"Chords, solos, opportunity."

One student put it more fully, describing a learning moment in their playing:

"[The activity in class that stood out to me the most] was practicing using chords in solos. It stood out because before I went, I mostly relied on scales. I originally did not know how to put chords into a solo, but now I have the basic idea, which will guide me in the correct direction while practicing."

This is a perfect example of a student walking away with a new tool, and the confidence to use it.

From a family:

"Thanks so much for running awesome JazzED programs for middle schoolers — we're so grateful this exists in Seattle!"

And from our Program Director, Courtney D. Clark:

“What stayed with me most during my first summer at JazzED was seeing the full arc of what we mean when we talk about access and opportunity. Students came to us at completely different places in their musical journeys, and every one of them had a place here. Watching a student discover on Friday that they can do something they couldn’t do on Monday, whether that’s playing their first notes, taking a solo, or finding the confidence to take a musical risk, is incredibly rich.
It was equally meaningful to see JazzED alumni return this summer as interns and teaching artists, now helping create those same kinds of experiences for the next generation of young musicians. That, to me, is what a real pathway looks like. We’re not just creating summer camps; we’re building community, creating opportunities to grow and lead, and giving young people a place they can return to in different ways throughout their musical journey.”

Looking Ahead

Fall is already shaping up to be just as full with a Teacher Info Session, an Open House, and special workshops on the calendar, plus our fall Downbeat (December 3) and fall Jamboree (December 12).

We can't wait to build our community of teaching artists and supporters and see what our students create next. We’re grateful to the donors, families, and community members who make summers and programs like this possible.