Jazz Outreach Initiative was founded to fill a need in the Las Vegas community for greater exposure to jazz studies and awareness, focusing on students of all ages. A professional 18-piece big band, the JOI Jazz Orchestra will take the audience through an exploration of jazz. Jazz grew out of the African-American community in the turn of the 20th century New Orleans. It is a mingling of the musical expressions of all the people who came to the United States by choice or by force—people from Africa, Europe, Latin America and the Caribbean—as well as those already living in America. Through special arrangements with Jazz at Lincoln Center, the JOI Jazz Orchestra will perform the signature “What Is Jazz?” program developed by the renowned education department at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Through festivals, clinics, “Band Directors Academy,” "Jazz for Young People Concerts", and other outreach programs, Jazz Outreach Initiative (JOI) celebrates the great American art form by promoting it through the next generation of performers and young audiences.
