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Jazz & Improvisation
Bachelor of MusicMajorYear: 2026
Jazz & Improvisation
Contact information
Students currently admitted in this course:
Future students:
Coordinator
Andrea Keller Meagher
Overview
Jazz & Improvisation is a program that balances skills with creativity to encourage the development of the personal voice and advanced technical skills through contemporary performance practice and creation of original compositions.
Jazz & Improvisation students learn performance skills in a range of individual and ensemble performance contexts, including close performance-based collaborations with music staff.
This major embraces studio-intensive pedagogy across jazz, world music, pop, rock, folk, indie, funk, experimental, electronica, big band, crossover music, a cappella and multimedia.
Intended learning outcomes
On completion of this major, students should be able to:
- situate their creative practice and aesthetic position in the contemporary improvised music context;
- synthesize influences from diverse musical sources in their creative practice;
- engage critically and productively in aesthetic dialogue within the improvised music community;
- apply a fluent and flexible technique to 'real-time' composition;
- collaborate effectively with other musicians as composers and improvisers;
- uphold rigorous intellectual and ethical standards in performance planning, preparation and documentation;
- navigate conventions of jazz and improvising practice with confidence and creativity;
- apply critical intelligence, self-reflection and creative problem-solving to their development as improvising musicians.
Last updated: 6 November 2025