Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz

With lead funding from the and , the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz brought its Peer-to-Peer jazz education program to West Virginia public schools last week. Combining performance with educational information, these “informances” were presented by the Institute’s National Peer-to-Peer Jazz Quintet, comprising five of the country’s most gifted high school music students: trumpeter Miri Izenberg miriplaystrumpet (17) from Santa Ana, CA ; alto saxophonist Alejandro Martinez .martz.music (18) from Houston; pianist Lincoln Gonzalez (18) from Miami; bassist Landon Hollman (15) from Los Angeles; and drummer Noah Kabia (17) from Baltimore. They were featured alongside acclaimed saxophone recording artist and Kansas City jazz and blues vocalist .henry.jazz and renowned jazz educator Dr. JB Dyas. Each school visit included an assembly program featuring a musical performance for all students, followed by workshops for each school’s jazz band and choir with the visiting student performers playing alongside and sharing ideas with their West Virginia counterparts.

Thank you West Virginia public schools. We had a wonderful time.

Watch the 2026 International Jazz Day All-Star Global Concert LIVE from Chicago!

Broadcast live from the iconic Lyric Opera of Chicago on April 30, 2026, the International Jazz Day 15th Anniversary All-Star Global Concert brings together an extraordinary lineup of world-renowned artists for a once-in-a-generation musical celebration.

Presented in partnership with UNESCO, this global event celebrates jazz as a universal language of freedom, creativity, and dialogue—uniting audiences in more than 190 countries.

Featuring an All-Star lineup of celebrated artists across genres, including Herbie Hancock, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Jacob Collier, Dianne Reeves, Gregory Porter, Béla Fleck, Kurt Elling, Marcus Miller, Terence Blanchard, John Beasley, Christine "Kingfish" Ingram, Robert Glasper, and Terri Lyne Carrington—alongside many, more featuring special guests and surprise performances.

©2026 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz ‪‬

Multiple Grammy Award–winning drummer, producer, and educator Terri Lyne Carrington, Founder and Artistic Director of the Berklee Institute of Jazz and Gender Justice, leads a panel of thought leaders, cultural workers and artists to further imagine ways to cultivate a more inclusive, more accessible and more sustainable future for the art form.

Can we expand upon the existing narratives and overarching “jazz aesthetic” defined by improvisation and collaboration that is rooted in long established cultural traditions? And can we forge a monumental “jazz movement” of new distinction that celebrates its heritage, translates current day culture, and also confronts its legacy burdens?

Air transportation and additional support for artists and educators is provided by United Airlines, the global airline partner of International Jazz Day.

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Vocalist Michael Mayo and pianist Paul Cornish join forces for an International Jazz Day masterclass. Both artists were selected as students for the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance program (Mayo, Class of 2016; Cornish, Class of 2020) where they had the opportunity to study with jazz greats like Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, and Dianne Reeves.

Air transportation and additional support for artists and educators is provided by United Airlines, the global airline partner of International Jazz Day.

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Join former UNESCO Directors-General Audrey Azoulay and Irina Bokova for a panel discussion moderated by Tom Carter, President of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, on how Jazz Day came to be, how Jazz Day is uniting people in all corners of the globe and how cultural diplomacy through efforts like International Jazz Day can create real change across borders. Air transportation and additional support for artists and educators is provided by United Airlines, the global airline partner of International Jazz Day. R9HW4ZLDURZEVDU3

Pianist Emmet Cohen presents a masterclass on how to approach listening to jazz music to unearth the elements that comprise it and to appreciate both its simplicity and complexity.

Air transportation and additional support for artists and educators is provided by United Airlines, the global airline partner of International Jazz Day.

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Jazz, Film, and the Improvisational Architecture of Storytelling

In this panel, acclaimed composers and film scorers Herbie Hancock, Kris Bowers and Marcus Miller join renowned filmmakers for a wide-ranging conversation on jazz and the language of cinema. Framing jazz not only as a musical tradition but as a creative philosophy, the panel explores film scoring as a deeply collaborative process, examining how jazz’s principles—improvisation, listening, and responsiveness—inform visual storytelling across genres. Drawing on the composers’ jazz foundations, even when writing non-jazz scores, and the directors’ creative perspectives, the discussion reveals how musical intuition, collaboration, and choice shape the emotional grammar of cinematic storytelling.

Air transportation and additional support for artists and educators is provided by United Airlines, the global airline partner of International Jazz Day.

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Join us for the Official Opening Ceremony for International Jazz Day 2026 in host city Chicago! This year, International Jazz Day is celebrating its 15th Anniversary of promoting peace; dialogue among cultures; diversity; respect for human rights and human dignity; eradicating discrimination; fostering gender equality; and promoting freedom of expression.

In November 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day in order to highlight jazz and its diplomatic role of uniting people in all corners of the globe. International Jazz Day brings together communities, schools, artists, historians, academics, and jazz enthusiasts all over the world to celebrate and learn about jazz and its roots, future and impact; raise awareness of the need for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding; and reinforce international cooperation and communication.

Air transportation and additional support for artists and educators is provided by United Airlines, the global airline partner of International Jazz Day.

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Special guest vocalist, Darynn Dean, joins the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance at UCLA Ensemble at the Chicago High School for the Arts for an "informance" – a combination of performance and educational information – for students in Chicago, IL as part of the 2026 International Jazz Day education and outreach programs.

Air transportation and additional support for artists and educators is provided by United Airlines, the global airline partner of International Jazz Day.

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Oran Etkin captivates children with his charming Timbalooloo program where he introduces his musical friends, like Clara Net. Instruments come to life and speak through their music and children create music by making their instrument talk.

Meet Oran at: www.instagram.com/oranetkin

Air transportation and additional support for artists and educators is provided by United Airlines, the global airline partner of International Jazz Day.

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