Steans Institute

Billy Childs, John Clayton, and Steve Wilson, Artistic Directors

Program Overview

The Jazz Program is all about composition and collaboration in small groups. From day one, 15 fellows dive into rehearsals, experimenting with different instrumental combos and creating new music under the guidance of the Jazz Program artistic directors. They learn to adapt to the dynamic nature of jazz performance, where flexibility is key. By the end of the week, the musicians come together as three quintets to debut their original compositions at the Jazz Grandstand concert.

The Jazz Program artistic directors also adjudicate and workshop the winning works from the Bridges Composition Competition, which culminates as the Program for Jazz begins.