Education

The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra offers meaningful enrichment opportunities for students of all ages and abilities, with programming designed to immerse students in the amazing world of Jazz.
The WJO Big Band Workshops and Honour Jazz Bands provide learning environments that foster the growth of student musicians’ potential. These opportunities are designed to develop knowledge, skills, and values necessary for meaningful participation in music communities and a global society; focusing on engagement, inclusion, collaboration, and understanding.
WJO also offers students and their chaperones reduced-priced tickets to select matinees so that more young people can experience the thrill of live performance. There is a limited supply and requests will be honored in the order they are received.

Jazz Band Workshops

Big Band Workshops take place every fall in host schools in south and north Winnipeg. They often sell out, so book your band in early! Contact [email protected], for information about future workshops.

Women-Led Jazz Symposium

The Winnipeg Women Jazz Orchestra presents a concert on Women's Day featuring all women musicians and all women composers or arrangers. The WJO has held three Women-Led Jazz Symposiums and many jazz performances with all female-identifying musicians.
The next symposium is planned for March 8, 2026 from 1:00 pm - 5:45 pm. The Young Women in Jazz concert starts at 7:10 and the Women's Day concert will be held at 7:30 pm.
Symposium: Adults $55, Students $40 (subsidized tickets available for students - see your band teacher for details closer to the event)
Concert: Adults $45, Students $22 (Discounted tickets to the symposium and evening concert are available.)

Canadian Jazz Composers Workshop

The sixth Canadian Jazz Composers Workshop will be on August 10, 11 and 9 or 12, 2025 featuring David Braid and writing for strings.
July, 2024 featured in-person all-day sessions with David Braid.
September 16, 2023 Featuring David Braid "From Screenplay to Music: The Essentials of Writing for Film"
February 12, 2022 Sessions by Jeff Presslaff "Randomness is Your Friend: Rolling the Dice in Jazz Composition" and David Braid "Setting Limits to Enable Music Creativity and Originality".
September 18, 2021 Sessions by Paul Read: "THE PROCESS: Getting Started, Keeping it Going and Finishing” and Marianne Trudel: "Writing for large and small ensembles: creating the space for music to happen”
May 1, 2021 Featuring Christine Jensen, Fred Stride, Philippe Cote and John MacLeod

Link to Jazz composers workshop page and registration

Educational Video Projects - Jazz Skills

We have asked some of our experienced jazz instructors to produce short video introductions for anyone wanting to improve their skills or knowledge of jazz. Additional videos are posted periodically.

Link to Jazz Skills Videos

Play along charts

We are providing student-level charts for students to play along with. Most of these were new commissioned works by the WJO to provide more big band music aimed at specific skills. Watch for a new way to see and listen to these - coming in spring 2023!

Link to Play-along charts

Education project support by:

The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra is Generously Funded by:

Funding assistance provided by the Manitoba government. Aide financière accordée par le gouvernement du Manitoba.

We acknowledge the support of the Canada Council for the Arts.

Education Sponsors:

The Play-Along App project is supported by the Government of Canada’s Healthy Communities Initiative.

We acknowledge the financial support of the Government of Canada.
Nous reconnaissons l'appui financier du gouvernement du Canada.

Concert Sponsors:

Hotel Sponsor:

Radio Sponsors

Special Event Supporters

Supporters

The Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra welcomes and shares its performance and creation of music - a universal language to all people irrespective of culture, race, sexuality, ability, language and gender.

Music is an agent of hope. A dynamic and valuable device that helps us to heal and to bring us together. The First Peoples of Canada understood this and used music to reunite, resolve and reconcile. In the spirit of reconciliation, we acknowledge that WJO activities take place on Treaty Territory – land that was maintained and earnestly cared for by Indigenous peoples before European settlement. Manitoba is the original lands of Anishinaabe, Cree, Oji-Cree, Dakota, and Dene peoples, and is the homeland of the Métis Nation. We acknowledge that Winnipeg benefits daily from Treaty 3 water that comes from Shoal Lake 40. It is with sincere sentiment that we recognize the mistakes of our recent and distant past. In working towards a Canada that benefits us all, we commit to seeking a greater understanding of Canada’s diverse cultural relationships through continued work with Indigenous communities; we commit to live in ways that honour and respect the treaties that were made on these territories; and we commit to stewarding the land in harmony for all who will come after us.

- Please refrain from wearing any fragrances or scented products as other patrons are allergic to them.
- Your likeness may be captured at this event. Attending this event implies your permission for your image to be used in marketing or promotional purposes.
- Please do not attend if you do not feel well. Call the box office at 204-632-5299 to arrange to go to another concert.

Winnipeg Jazz Orchestra / Box 68114, RPO Osborne Village, Winnipeg, Manitoba, R3L 2V9
Main: 204-421-9398 / [email protected] Box Office: 204-632-5299 / [email protected]