Jazz Ensembles
Welcome!
The Department of Music offers a variety of jazz courses for UCI students. All UCI students may audition for our Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Combo performance classes, which present quarterly public concerts. Below are details on those ensembles and other jazz-related classes.
Jazz Orchestra, MUS 178
The UCI Jazz Orchestra is dedicated to performing a wide range of big band repertoire, from classic works of the early and mid-20th century to more contemporary sounds. Emphasis is primarily on developing a cohesive ensemble sound, and learning to understand and interpret diverse large ensemble jazz repertoire from different eras. The orchestra is open to all UCI students by audition, and we especially encourage trumpet and trombone players to audition! The ensembles is comprised of both music majors and non-music majors, and is a 2-unit class, offered every quarter. Students must be enrolled in the course to participate, and the class requires a commitment to a weekly 3-hour rehearsal, several hours per week of individual practice and other work outside of class, and participation in a quarterly concert.
Auditions for Jazz Orchestra take place in fall during Welcome Week (i.e. prior to the first day of classes), and auditions are also held as needed at the start of winter or spring quarters. For audition details and the signup sheet, please see the Music Department's Welcome Week Schedule which will be made available by mid-August of each year. For further questions about Jazz Orchestra in 2024-25, please contact the UCI Jazz Orchestra Director, Professor Jerry Pinter.
Jazz Small Groups (Combos), MUS 176/182
The UCI Jazz Small Groups (i.e. "combos") are typically comprised of four to eight members. All UCI students may audition, and the combos are aimed at students with prior experience in jazz improvisation. Taught by a world-renowned jazz faculty, several jazz combo classes are offered every quarter. Each instructor focuses on different repertoire and approaches, offering students who take the combo courses over time the opportunity to gain diverse perspectives on jazz improvisation. Students must be enrolled in the course to participate, and the class requires a commitment to a weekly 2-hour rehearsal, several hours per week of individual practice and other work outside of class, and participation in a quarterly concert.
Combo auditions are held quarterly via the Jazz Combos Application Form that all students must submit, which includes a video-based audition for those who have not participated in a recent combos class. All students wishing to enroll in a combo course must submit the form each quarter, regardless of major. For fall 2025, the application form (and video audition if applicable) is due by 9am on Thursday, Sept. 25, 2025. Deadlines for submitting the form for winter and spring quarter are at the end of the preceding quarter and will be posted on this page by mid-quarter. For questions about combo auditions, please contact Professor Michael Dessen.
Jazz @ UCI
In addition to these ensembles, the Music Department also offers a yearly GE lecture course on Jazz History (MUS 78), taught by Dr. Dawn Norfleet, a course which is open to all UCI students, with no prerequisites. For music majors and others who meet the pre-requisites, we offer other jazz-related courses, in some cases alternating years. Those courses include Intro to Jazz Improvisation (MUS 32); Jazz Theory (MUS 132); Jazz Composition (MUS 183ABC); and jazz-adjacent courses such as Improvisation (MUS 181).
For nearly 30 years, the Department of Music offered a unique, innovative degree in Jazz Studies led by Professor Emeritus Kei Akagi, including a B.Mus. degree option that provided pre-professional training in jazz performance and composition. Beginning in fall 2025, we no longer offer the Jazz Studies degree or provide performance lessons on jazz instruments. However, our newly designed B.A. Music degree offers students a broad foundation in music studies, as well the chance to complete an upper-division emphasis and BA project in either Integrated Composition, Improvisation and Technology (ICIT) or History and Theory of Music (HTM). B.A. students interested in jazz are encouraged to speak with the core faculty in those areas and to take advantage of the upper-division emphasis coursework to develop projects that deepen their engagement with jazz traditions, through small-enrollment courses such as MUS 186 ICIT Workshop and through faculty-supervised research or creative work in the context of a BA Project.
Our fantastic students also organize their own weekly jazz jam sessions, open to all UCI students (time/day TBD for this year), and they have also been developing a student organization that brings together music and dance students for jazz-based collaboration. We encourage you to keep an eye out for all those activities as well as our Jazz Orchestra and Jazz Combo concerts, listed on our events calendar, and we hope you stay involved with Jazz @ UCI!
Contact
For all other questions about Jazz @ UCI, please contact Professor Michael Dessen, Jazz Coordinator for the Music Department.
