About Us
JazzWorks is an Ottawa-based Canadian not-for-profit organization dedicated to the development of jazz musicianship in players of all ages. To achieve its mandate and goals, JazzWorks carries out a wide range of activities including a summer Jazz Camp, monthly jam sessions and open mics, as well as concerts throughout the year. To keep you informed, JazzWorks publishes a weekly newsletter, Ottawa Jazz Happenings.
JazzWorks Mandate and Artistic Goals
Our mandate and artistic goals are three-fold:
- To raise awareness of jazz music as an art form in the community
- To promote the development of jazz performance in Ottawa through educational and collaborative activities and performances that involve amateur and professional jazz musicians in a concert setting
- To develop and provide access to vehicles for creative networking and the building of performance ensembles (small groups/jazz combos).
JazzWorks History
JazzWorks is an Ottawa-based not-for-profit jazz education organization, with 90 percent of participants drawn from the Ottawa area. JazzWorks began as a small artists’ collaborative and has thrived with the organizational and logistical help of a group of dedicated Ottawa jazz supporters and musicians. Since 1994, JazzWorks has presented jazz education activities such as the annual Jazz Camp and monthly Jam Sessions.
JazzWorks was founded in 1994 by Judith Humenick, an Ottawa flutist, music educator and arts advocate, with the four original members of Ottawa-based, award-winning and celebrated jazz quartet Chelsea Bridge (Rob Frayne, Tena Palmer, Jean Martin and John Geggie). In creating the JazzWorks Jazz Camp, the goal was to present a jazz workshop with a difference, a workshop focused on local adult jazz musicians. Most jazz workshops in the province of Ontario focus on high school students in a big band jazz camp format. The educational model of JazzWorks concentrates on adult and advanced high school jazz musicians learning in a "small group/jazz combo performance" setting. This approach assists participants in developing the skills to create their own combos and perform in public venues.
The steady growth of participation and ongoing, enthusiastic response to JazzWorks from the Ottawa jazz community confirms our belief that JazzWorks has created a unique niche in terms of jazz education in Ottawa. JazzWorks attracts multi-generational participants; the 2022 Jazz Camp included 60 participants from 16 to 86 years of age at all performance levels. JazzWorks is proud to state that many of the Ottawa jazz musicians who attended the very first workshop in 1994 still attend on a regular basis, and plan their summer schedules around the workshop. As participant numbers have grown over the years, the faculty has expanded to include jazz educators from Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and New York.
JazzWorks was founded in 1994 by Judith Humenick, an Ottawa flutist, music educator and arts advocate, with the four original members of Ottawa-based, award-winning and celebrated jazz quartet Chelsea Bridge (Rob Frayne, Tena Palmer, Jean Martin and John Geggie). In creating the JazzWorks Jazz Camp, the goal was to present a jazz workshop with a difference, a workshop focused on local adult jazz musicians. Most jazz workshops in the province of Ontario focus on high school students in a big band jazz camp format. The educational model of JazzWorks concentrates on adult and advanced high school jazz musicians learning in a "small group/jazz combo performance" setting. This approach assists participants in developing the skills to create their own combos and perform in public venues.
The steady growth of participation and ongoing, enthusiastic response to JazzWorks from the Ottawa jazz community confirms our belief that JazzWorks has created a unique niche in terms of jazz education in Ottawa. JazzWorks attracts multi-generational participants; the 2022 Jazz Camp included 60 participants from 16 to 86 years of age at all performance levels. JazzWorks is proud to state that many of the Ottawa jazz musicians who attended the very first workshop in 1994 still attend on a regular basis, and plan their summer schedules around the workshop. As participant numbers have grown over the years, the faculty has expanded to include jazz educators from Ottawa, Montreal, Toronto, Vancouver and New York.
Volunteers & Staff
As a non-profit, JazzWorks looks to its volunteers to help it run its events. In addition to those mentioned below, there are so many other individuals who lend a hand in a variety of ways —setting up for concerts, schlepping gear, postering and spreading the word about events, coordinating and MCing evening jam sessions, lending, setting up and running PA gear, to name just a few. Their efforts are much appreciated and an absolute necessity for the success of JazzWorks.
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Staff
Judith Humenick, Executive Director/Producer Thais Karsidag, Administrator Volunteers Monthly Jam Sessions and Vocal Open Mic Sessions Ian Schwartz, Brian An, Dave Finlayson, Jam Session Coordinators Chris Thompson, Jam Session Sound Betty Ann Bryanton, Jam Session MC Peggy Cameron, Vocal Open Mic Coordinator Website and Ottawa Jazz Happenings Newsletter David R. Miller, Ottawa Jazz Happenings Editor & Website Manager Graphic Design Orazio Fantini, JazzWorks Logo Design IBiz Shout Out, Graphic Design Translation Marcel Gagnon, Beaumorne Linguistic Services Linguistiques Marketing and Communications Anthony Ha, Social Media Marketing, Photography Chris Thompson, Videographer |
JazzWorks Board of Directors
Leslie Toope, Chairperson Raymond Vles, Vice-Chair Ira Abrams, Treasurer Peggy Cameron, Secretary Marcel Gagnon, Member-at-large Richard Tarasofsky, Member-at-large Justin Coutu,"Jazz in the Schools" coordinator |
JazzWorks Community Impact
JazzWorks provides a special niche for adults and high school students in the Ottawa community to immerse themselves in a variety of jazz education initiatives and opportunities. JazzWorks’ focus on learning to play jazz in a small group setting encourages networking. Musicians are encouraged to form their own combos after the summer Jazz Camp, and many then perform publicly in Ottawa clubs, restaurants, churches, and other public venues. Many groups including Jazz Camp alumni have performed at the Ottawa International Jazz Festival. In one recent year, thirteen different Jazz Festival groups included JazzWorks participants. Since 2007, JazzWorks has nurtured and developed a growing community of Ottawa-based jazz composers. In 2012, JazzWorks established an expanded Composers’ Symposium with individual instruction and private studios.
The JazzWorks Scholarship Fund sponsors as many as three promising and highly-talented high school jazz musicians to attend the three-day summer Jazz Camp. Scholarships are available for adult musicians as well. Recipients are chosen in collaboration with the regional and national music festivals every spring. Application is open to senior high school students of exceptional talent (Grades 10–12). Several scholarship recipients have gone on to develop professional careers in jazz and perform internationally.
JazzWorks is supported by volunteers and the business community through donations and in-kind services from businesses such as Steve's Music, Metro Music, Long & McQuade Musical Instruments, Dave's Drum Shop, Compact Music, and Fleet Pro Sound. We also benefit from creative services provided by Brehon Trade Litho Inc. (printing), Festival Japan (events venue), and Beaumorne Linguistic Services Linguistiques (translation services).
Privacy Policy
JazzWorks will not sell, share or rent any information collected on this site. All online transactions and contributions on this site occur through a safe, private and secure system that protects your personal information.
If you have any objection to the photographs posted in the Gallery or on other pages of the website, or to videos posted by our members, please contact us at jazz@jazzworkscanada.com.
If you have any objection to the photographs posted in the Gallery or on other pages of the website, or to videos posted by our members, please contact us at jazz@jazzworkscanada.com.