Registration Now Open For New Jersey Performing Arts Center's TD Jazz For Teens Education Program

Announcing New Class: Music Composition & Arranging

Impacting Thousands of Young Musicians for the Past 25 Years

Fall Semester: October 7–December16, 2023
Spring Semester: January 27-May 18, 2024, 10:00am-5:00pm (schedules vary)

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), Colton Institute for Research and Training in the Arts, 24 Rector Street, Newark, NJ, 07102 (Newark Penn Station stop by Newark-bound PATH/Amtrak). Student musicians ages 12-18.

Register: $650 per semester. $1,100 for full year. Registration is required and financial aid is available. For more information, visit NJPAC.org or call 973.353.7058.

The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), the state’s anchor cultural institution, celebrates 26 years of offering thousands of high schoolers from Newark and beyond music lessons and performance experiences through its popular TD Jazz for Teens program. One of the first of many arts education institutions at NJPAC, it has grown into a nationally recognized and revered program producing stellar alumni such as MacArthur “Genius” Fellow Tyshawn Sorey. The 2023-24 school year is about to begin and is now accepting students for the Fall 2023 semester. Registration is now open and closes September 25.

Jazz for Teens is a comprehensive and sequential jazz education program that provides access to top-notch musical training and study with world-class working artists, opportunities for artistic exchange within the community, and college and career exploration. Classes include jazz history, theory/composition, technique, ensembles, and more. Prospective college students are guided through the application process. Students are given many performance opportunities as members of the James Moody Jazz Orchestra and/or George Wein Scholars Ensemble (performing at the Newport Jazz Festival). All students record their own compositions together in a studio setting. Field trips to Rutgers University-Newark’s remarkable Institute of Jazz Studies, the largest archive of jazz-related materials in the world, are regular treats for students.

This 2023-24 school year includes a new class: Music Composition and Arranging led by Teaching Artist/saxophonist/composer Lance Bryant (Jazz at Lincoln Center, Berklee College of Music, Jazz House Kids). This class welcomes aspiring composers ages 14-18 who demonstrate promise and dedication early in their creative development. The program focuses on the fundamentals of composition through instruction, group activities and styles, the performance of students’ works, and interaction with Bryant. It prepares students for the next stage of their artistic journey.

Since 2015, Jazz for Teens has been at the helm of Mark Gross, the Director of Jazz Instruction for NJPAC. A multiple-Grammy-winning alto saxophonist and composer, Gross has performed and recorded with a roster of greats, including Dizzy Gillespie, Buster Williams, Nat Adderley, Dave Holland, Wynton Marsalis, and more. In addition to Gross, a roster of more than a dozen working jazz musicians including saxophonist Wayne Escoffery and guitarist Alex Wintz (himself an alumnus of the program) as well as celebrated percussionist Alvester Garnett and acclaimed, Russian-born trumpeter Valery Ponomarev, a Jazz Messenger, to name a few—make up the TD Jazz for Teens faculty. Even more bold-faced names, including eight-time GRAMMY-winning bassist Christian McBride, the Arts Center’s Jazz Advisor, vibraphonist Stefon Harris, and MacArthur “Genius” and Doris Duke Artist award winner Regina Carteroffer master classes, working directly with students.

Through this unique program, students become more than musicians—they grow into exceptional people ready to take on the world. Social and emotional support is embedded throughout all teachings with social workers made available to both students and their families. NJPAC’s commitment to celebrating social justice work and students’ social and emotional learning is integrated throughout the program.

About Arts Education @ NJPAC

NJPAC’s Arts Education offerings reach more than 60,000 students and families through live performances, in-school residency programs and arts training classes. These programs bring the joy of dance, music, theater, and poetry directly to the classroom. Through our innovative residencies, Teaching Artists create stimulating performing arts experiences that engage students’ imaginations and build self-confidence through positive self-expression. Our residencies help students learn to work together and develop their creative independence.

In addition to NJPAC’s innovative In-School Programs, the Arts Center’s comprehensive Arts Education Department offers an Arts Training Program that helps students at every level learn their artistic and technical skills they need to study acting, dance, instrumental music, vocal music, and musical theater. NJPAC also presents a SchoolTime Performance Series, which introduces students and their families to a world of entertainment and culture. NJPAC’s Arts Education programs feature professional artists from a wide variety of traditions and performances of music, dance, storytelling, puppetry, and more. NJPAC.org/education

About NJPAC

New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC), located in downtown Newark, N.J., is America’s most diverse performing arts center, and the artistic, cultural, educational and civic center of New Jersey – where great performances and events enhance and transform lives every day. NJPAC brings diverse communities together, providing access to all and showcasing the state’s and the world’s best artists while acting as a leading catalyst in the revitalization of its home city. Through its extensive Arts Education programs, NJPAC is shaping the next generation of artists and arts enthusiasts. NJPAC has attracted 10 million visitors (including more than 1.8 million children) since opening its doors in 1997, and nurtures meaningful and lasting relationships with each of its constituents. NJPAC.org

About TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank

TD Bank, America's Most Convenient Bank, is one of the 10 largest banks in the U.S., providing more than 8 million customers with a full range of retail, small business and commercial banking products and services at approximately 1,300 convenient locations throughout the Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Metro D.C., the Carolinas and Florida. In addition, TD Bank and its subsidiaries offer customized private banking and wealth management services through TD Wealth, and vehicle financing and dealer commercial services through TD Auto Finance.