Jazz at Lincoln Center Summer Jazz Academy

# Jazz at Lincoln Center Summer Jazz Academy The Summer Jazz Academy is Jazz at Lincoln Center's premier residential summer program, admitting 50 of the nation's most advanced high school jazz musicians and vocalists each year. The 2026 academy ran July 12-26 at Bard College in Annandale-on-Hudson, New York, and at Jazz at Lincoln Center's home in Manhattan, immersing students in the organization's approach to swing, blues, and the jazz tradition. ## What You'll Do - Perform in one of two big bands and in small combos coached by Jazz at Lincoln Center artists - Take private lessons plus classes in aesthetics, culture, history, performance practice, and pedagogy - Develop melodic fluency, expressive tone, and authentic swing, exploring rhythm and harmony as time and space - Live and study residentially with an intensely selected national cohort of peers ## Who Should Apply Jazz instrumentalists and vocalists in grades 9-12. Admission is competitive and by audition: applicants submit 3-4-minute videos with accompaniment, chosen to best represent their strengths, and are ranked against others on the same instrument. The 2026 application window ran February 1 through May 15; the next cycle typically opens around February. ## Outcomes Students train inside the world's leading jazz institution with faculty drawn from its orchestra and education programs, leaving with big-band and combo experience, personal coaching, and a national credential. Partial and full scholarships are available to ensure equitable access for all accepted students.