Monterey Jazz Festival (MJF)

Monterey Jazz Festival - The nonprofit Monterey Jazz Festival is the longest continuously-running jazz festival in the world, and has presented nearly every major jazz artist every year since its inception in 1958. Held annually on the 20-acre Monterey County Fairgrounds, the Festival is considered an international icon and model for all subsequent multi-stage music festivals. Five-hundred top jazz artists perform throughout the weekend on eight stages over three nights and two days each third full weekend in September. Every year, through its marketing and promotional efforts, the Festival gathers over 60 million impressions in local, national, and international print and digital media outlets, on the ground, and through its web site.

Monterey Jazz Festival annually provides 3,000+ young people with direct access to the nationally recognized jazz musicians and music instructors. These programs not only help fill an educational gap in our schools underfunded music programs, but provide mentorship and extensive performance opportunities to foster creativity, and build character and teamwork for the next generation's jazz musicians. Monterey Jazz Festival education programs include: the Monterey Jazz Festival (MJF) Regional All Star Band and Vocal Ensemble, MJF All Star Middle School Combo, Summer Jazz Camp, Jazz Uplifts!, master classes and workshops, and an instrument bank & sheet music library. National programs include the Next Generation Jazz Orchestra and the Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo as well as our HBCU (Historically Black Colleges and Universities) Partnership Program, which brings students from HBCUs throughout the U.S. to Monterey to provide career and performance opportunities with internationally renowned jazz artists during our annual festival. Monterey Jazz Festival partners with Texas Southern University (TSU) to produce MJF @ TSU, an annual, free 4-day intensive program featuring MJF Artist-in-Residence and Texas based jazz musicians and industry experts. Since the onset of the COVID-19 Pandemic, MJF Education has expanded its offerings to include online jazz education programs through its YouTube channel: The Listening Space featuring Gerald Clayton, Director of Next Generation Jazz Orchestra, and Welcome to the Sands Box featuring Christian Sands, MJFs Artist in Residence.