Bachelor of Music in Jazz Studies

Jazz is an artistic musical form involving a spontaneous kind of composition called improvisation and a rhythmic concept called swing. Many consider it to be America s major contribution to music. It grew out of the African-American experience at the beginning of the 20th century and combined elements of African, Western European classical, and 19th-century American music. Jazz evolved through many styles including New Orleans Dixieland, swing, big band, bebop, hard bop and cool. It also incorporated elements of popular, folk, electronic and ethnic music from all over the world to create various fusions.