A Week of Discovery: Summer Jazz Camp 2026

For four days in early June, the Nashville Jazz Workshop's Youth Summer Jazz Camp filled Montgomery Bell Academy with the sound of young musicians finding their voices. Thirty students from across Middle Tennessee — organized into four ensembles spanning beginners to advanced players — spent the week immersed in the music with some of Nashville's finest teaching artists.

What makes us proudest is who was in the room. Eight of our thirty campers attended on scholarship — more than one in four — because a young person's access to jazz education shouldn't depend on their family's budget. That's only possible because of donors who answered the call. We're especially grateful to the Billy Strayhorn Foundation and Jamey Aebersold, whose generosity opened the door for students who might otherwise have spent the summer on the outside looking in.

(Oh, and remember the sold-out Nashville Jazz Festival 2025 at 3rd & Lindsley? Our fundraising during NJF25 got even more students in the door on scholarship! Keep an eye for upcoming news on the Nashville Jazz Festival 2026.)

A camp like this takes a village to fill. Our thanks to the friends and organizations who helped us spread the word and recruit students this year: Jazz Empowers, Chris Colalillo, Rich Ripani, and Bandwagon Music & Instrument Repair. And the week simply wouldn't have happened without our partners at Montgomery Bell Academy — especially Jordan Frederick, MBA's jazz band director, whose hospitality made the campus feel like home.

Of course, the heart of any camp is its teachers. Our deepest thanks to this year's extraordinary teaching artists: Sofia Goodman, Don Aliquo, Eli Ibrahim, Rob Linton, Desmond Ng, Ryan Brasley, Marcus Finnie, and Erik Abernathy — with a special tip of the hat to Jeff Coffin of the Dave Matthews Band, who dropped by for an unforgettable afternoon.

Did it work? The students told us themselves. Campers rated their overall experience an average of 4.4 out of 5, and a near-perfect 4.7 out of 5 when asked whether our instructors made them feel welcome and supported. One fourteen-year-old saxophonist put it best: "This is probably the most I've learned in one week than I have in a month." Another camper called it simply "a fun, happy place to learn and play your instrument."

But the last word belongs to Aidan, age eleven, here on scholarship, who plays drums (and bass, and piano), loves "Take the A Train," and left us this note:

"I'm so happy. Oh yeah — my name is Aidan, I play Drums (AND Bass, and Piano). I love 'Take the A Train.' Thanks for sendin me my scholarship! I hope I can come next year. — Aidan"

That's the whole story, right there. See you next summer.