Symphonic Jazz Orchestra

ORCHESTRATING THE FUTURE OF JAZZ AND MUSIC EDUCATION

SJO brings dynamic music programs into underserved schools and performs free concerts for the community with the 68-member orchestra.

OUR PROGRAMS

CONCERTS

Comprised of some of the top musicians in the country, our 68-member orchestra performs free concerts for the community and has played with renowned jazz soloists like George Duke, Dave Grusin, Christian McBride, Lee Ritenour and The Yellowjackets.

COMMISSIONS

Every year, the SJO awards a commissioning prize to a composer, whose new work is then premiered by the orchestra in concert.

RADIO

SJO's Music Director Mitch Glickman hosts “Beyond Symphonic Jazz” on KJazz 88.1 FM Monday Nights at 9pm (PST). The radio show explores where the worlds of jazz and classical music meet with interviews with some very special composers and performers.

WHAT IS SYMPHONIC JAZZ?

Have you ever heard Gershwin’s Rhapsody in Blue? If not, take a listen.

Rhapsody in BlueGeorge Gershwin

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If so, then you’ve heard Symphonic Jazz. Coined by the American band leader Paul Whiteman in the early 1920s, Symphonic Jazz is an innovative hybrid form of music blending the worlds of jazz and classical music.