The Vail Jazz Foundation is a non-profit organization located in Vail, Colorado

About

The Vail Jazz Foundation is a non-profit organization located in Vail, Colorado.

We strive to:

• Educate and enlighten listeners to the artistry, beauty, and history of Jazz, America’s own art form.
• Entertain and inspire, audience and musician, young and old, resident and visitor, through the presentation of quality jazz in beautiful, inspiring settings.
• Support the growth, development and vitality of the jazz art form through our live performance and education programs.
• Create a distinctive series of annual programs and events to serve performers, students, teachers and the audience.

Our performances range from free outdoor concerts featuring regional and national jazz favorites, to our Labor Day Weekend Party, which draws exceptional musical talent and jazz aficionados from around the country and around the globe. Whether you prefer to listen to jazz while relaxing under a sunny Rocky Mountain sky, or to get down with the musicians themselves, the Vail Jazz Festival offers something for everyone.

With educational programs and activities such as the Vail Jazz Workshop and Jazz Goes to School, we are able to reach out to the next generation of players and listeners. Jeff Clayton The VJF is determined to fulfill its mission by expanding the audience for jazz while supporting young and established artists in their quest to create great music.


Photo: 2008 Workshop students Raviv Markovitz, Grace Kelly, and Luke Celenza.

The Vail Jazz Foundation could not operate without the unselfish support of numerous friends and volunteers who provide assistance, advice, moral support and plain old hard work. We thank each and every one of them for their contributions! If you are interested in learning more about opportunities to volunteer please contact us!

Vail Jazz Foundation History

Howard Stone is a life-long jazz fan, a retired real estate attorney and investor based in Santa Monica California, who has had a second home in Vail Colorado for over 30 years. Stone loves jazz as much as he loves the Colorado lifestyle – and the Vail Jazz Foundation blossomed when he brought together these two passions. Stone had attended numerous “Jazz Parties” in Colorado through the years.

In 1995, he was inspired to put together the first Labor Day Weekend Vail Jazz Party in Vail. His vision was to do his part to carry on a 20 year Colorado tradition of presenting great jazz in the unique ‘party’ format over the Labor Day Weekend. After the success of the first Vail Jazz Party, Stone dreamed further and decided to create the VJF as an organization dedicated to the perpetuation of jazz music with a specific emphasis on young musicians and young audiences.

The Foundation grew to add a jazz workshop for promising high school musicians, a school program in Eagle County called Jazz Goes to School, free concert series, educational programs, and collaborations featuring all performances and educational programs with other non profits including Bravo! Vail Valley Music Festival, The Vail Symposium, and the Vail Valley Foundation.

Today, Vail and Colorado are the beneficiaries of Stone’s vision, which manifests itself in an annual summer festival spanning over 12 weeks and entertaining over 50,000 people, a workshop which has contributed to the jazz musicianship of over 150 outstanding jazz musicians, and a school program that has educated over 11,000 students in Eagle County.

• 1995 The inaugural Vail Jazz Party is presented in Vail, Colorado.
• 1996 The inaugural Vail Jazz Workshop takes place in Vail, welcoming 12 talented high school jazz musicians to study at an intensive music residency program with professional musician educators in Vail.
• 1997 The VJF continues to innovate by adding a series of free outdoor concerts to its performance schedule, called Jammin’ Jazz Nights, creating a month-long celebration of jazz from early August through Labor Day weekend, now known as The Vail Jazz Festival.
• 1998 Jazz Goes to School, a new jazz studies program for elementary school students, is introduced in the Eagle County School District public elementary schools’ fourth and fifth grade classes. This free jazz education program takes professional musician/clinicians into local schools throughout the school year, and follows a progressive curriculum developed by the VJF that integrates jazz music education with social studies.
• 1999 The annual Vail Jazz Festival adds performance series (Jazz @ The Market, Jazz @ Vail Square, etc.) in order to expand the Festival into a summer long celebration of jazz.

http://www.vailjazz.org/