The Marcel A. Desautels Faculty of Music is revolutionizing jazz education. Ours is the first truly innovative jazz program in Canada, allowing students to take advantage of dedicated study at the undergraduate level leading to Bachelor of Jazz Studies, and giving you opportunities to learn the language of jazz through ongoing collaborations with the leading musicians of the jazz world.

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The Bachelor of Jazz Studies program is designed to provide a broad and comprehensive study of jazz performance, jazz composition and arranging as they have developed over the past century. It will also provide strong pedagogical training in the field.

The program will address the four disciplines that jazz musicians must cultivate in order to succeed in today’s musical society: composing, arranging, performing, and educating. A student graduating with this new degree will be able to enter the field of jazz in any one, or combination, of these areas. Our program has received high accolades from professionals in the field (see Curriculum page for more details).

Thanks to the Faculty of Music's jazz program, marquee jazz musicians now regularly come to Winnipeg to perform and teach, putting the city on the international jazz map. Steve Kirby, Director of Jazz Studies, and his colleagues Quincy Davis (drums), Derrick Gardner (trumpet), Will Bonness (piano), Larry Roy (guitar) and Anna-Lisa Kirby (voice) have collaborated with the finest artists on the jazz scene and brought renewed energy to Winnipeg's jazz culture, attracting luminaries to partnerships like the Izzy Asper Jazz Series, Smartpark's Jazz Innovators Series, the International Spotlight on Jazz summer camp, as well as the Faculty of Music's own Summer Jazz Camp for middle and high school students and music educators.

Talents such as trombonist Wycliffe Gordon, violinist Regina Carter, trumpet legends Clark Terry and Wynton Marsalis, and drummer Herlin Reily (to name only a few) share their music with U of M students and jazz fans alike.