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California Institute of the Arts

BFA: Jazz

The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts

A group of casually dressed young men plays jazz instruments, including a guitar, stand-up bass, two saxophones, and drum set.

Alex Grant BFA Jazz recital.

Traditions are made to redefine

Established as a bold departure from traditional academic jazz programs, the four-year BFA in Jazz at CalArts invites musicians to explore the furthest edges of their craft. Founded by the late jazz great Charlie Haden, the program focuses on small ensemble performance and improvisation—an environment that fosters your evolution into a versatile performer, improviser, and/or composer. 

A man is sitting in a chair playing a guitar in a large institutional space. He is smiling.

Jazz Recording at Capitol Records 2022.

Interested in this program?

View our step-by-step application guide to learn more.  

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Take it to the bridge

The jazz tradition and standards are the point of departure at CalArts, not the destination. Working closely with your mentor and our other acclaimed faculty musicians and visiting artists, you’ll combine theory and practice, honing your skills through collaboration and performance, both on stage and in the recording studio. 

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The program’s atmosphere is one of profound collaboration, where musicians challenge one another to reach the highest levels of artistry while daring to redefine the boundaries of jazz. The curriculum is rooted in experimentation and revolves around ensemble work, encouraging you to push the limits of the form and your own potential as an artist. As a BFA Jazz student, you’ll work with your mentor in an apprenticeship model, rehearsing and performing regularly with peers and faculty. Your faculty will challenge you to perform, record, and produce as often as possible, both within the School’s regular calendar of concerts and recitals, and beyond. Jazz students also participate in a juried competition each year for opportunities to record original work at the legendary Capitol Studios in Hollywood with some of the best recording engineers in the world. (You can listen to past recordings at the CalArts Jazz CD Archive.) 

All undergraduate programs in The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts offer a broad and rigorous general musical education alongside highly individualized lesson instruction and mentoring. As a BFA student, you’ll engage in intensive shared training in musical techniques and concepts spanning classical, jazz, popular, electronic, and experimental styles, and both Western and non-Western musical cultures. You will graduate with experience in creating original work, ensemble performance, music notation and theory, professional development, and artistic métiers outside of music.

Students of jazz bass, guitar, keyboard, drums, brass, reeds, other instruments, and jazz performance develop skills through major lessons, jazz forums, and a range of classes covering transcription, jazz improvisation, harmonic improvisation, keyboard theory, composition, arranging, and jazz history, among other topics.

Intensive ensemble work includes performing with both a student and a faculty jazz ensemble, West African Music and Dance ensembles, Balinese and Javanese Music and Dance ensembles, North Indian Music ensembles, Persian ensembles, and a variety of multifocus and cross-genre groups in the School. Along the way, you’ll build a strong record of both concert and recording studio experience.

Mentors and faculty provide continuous musical guidance and collegial artistic advice throughout the BFA residency, helping you develop the musical skills and creative voice necessary to excel as a professional jazz artist after finishing at CalArts.

All BFA jazz students are required to fulfill all requirements and pass a graduation recital in order to earn the degree.

Admission requirements

To be considered for the BFA in Jazz, you must complete an application and all program-specific requirements, including a portfolio representative of your work, an artist statement, a brief video introduction, and two letters of recommendation. Before applying, please familiarize yourself with the detailed application requirements and resources available to assist you in this important process. 

View application requirements

Degree requirements

Each CalArts music student designs their course of study in collaboration with a faculty mentor, with the first two BFA years focused on building a strong foundation in music theory, performance, and diverse musical cultures, and the final two years dedicated to personalized exploration through specialized concentrations, creative projects, and individualized mentorship.

View BFA Jazz academic requirements by instrument:

In addition to work in your specific program, all undergraduate students must complete requirements in general education, which we call Critical Studies. This liberal arts curriculum is designed to enable students to consider aesthetic questions within larger socio-cultural, ethical, and political contexts.  

View Critical Studies requirements

Minors and interdisciplinary opportunities

CalArts offers students the chance to pursue additional interests alongside your chosen discipline, such as a minor in Music Theory, Digital Arts, or Arts Education.

Learn more about minors and interdisciplinary opportunities 

Courses you might take

What courses would you take as a BFA Jazz student? Browse the courses offered in the School of Music, including opportunities to study jazz, world music, experimental pop, film scoring, improvisation, electronic music, composition, vocal performance, African and Balinese ensembles, and much more.

Explore our course catalog

Meet the faculty

At CalArts, faculty and students are collaborators, teaching, learning, and working together as members of our community of artists. 

Some of our alumni

More School of Music alumni

32 years of Jazz at CalArts

Every spring since 1990, CalArts music students head to the legendary Capitol Studios in Hollywood where, working with the best recording engineers in the world, they record live, original compositions by their CalArts peers. The studio time is an invaluable experience, and we get to document some extraordinary and eclectic musical directions. Have a listen.

A grid of the covers of sixteen CalArts Jazz album covers.

School of Music Events

See more events

  • Performance School of Music

    Join us as the vocalists of CalArts sing some of their recent favorites. What are…

    Sun, Oct 20 / 8:00 PM

    CalArts Campus

  • Performance School of Music

    A lovely concert of chamber music performed by students and faculty, followed by a Porto's…

    Tue, Oct 22 / 8:00 PM

    CalArts Campus

  • Performance School of Music

    A concert of music by Brandon Becker (MFA 2023) who with his passing earlier this…

    Fri, Oct 18 / 8:00 PM

    CalArts Campus

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Want to learn more?

We got you. Our Admissions team is all about providing the information you need to decide if CalArts is right for you. We’re excited to connect with you for a tour of our legendary campus, a virtual info session, or at one of our admissions events across the country or around the world. Take the next step—we’re here to help.