Music Education Monday: Summer jazz camps in St. Louis

Summer's almost here, but there's still time for aspiring young jazz musicians in the St. Louis area to enroll in one or more of the summer jazz camps being presented by local universities:

Southern Illinois University Edwardsville will hold its annual camp for students at "all levels, grades 8-12" from Monday, June 1 through Friday, June 5 on the SIUE campus. Classes are taught by members of the SIUE jazz faculty. For details or to sign up, go to http://www.siue.edu/artsandsciences/music/community/jazz-camp.shtml.

Bassist Jim Widner's big band will serve as the faculty for the annual University of Missouri - St. Louis jazz camp, with instructors including Widner, Scott Whitfield, Dave Scott, Ken Kehner, Rod Fleeman, Chip McNeill, Kim Richmond, Gary Hobbs, and others. The camp for "students of all ages and talent levels" will be held Monday, June 7 through Friday, June 12 on the UMSL campus. For more information or to enroll, visit http://www.umsl.edu/~pcs/noncredit-offerings/jazz-camp.html.

Webster University's annual camp for "beginning, intermediate and advanced level jazz improvisers and instrumentalists" will take place from Monday, July 6 through Friday, July 10 on the Webster U campus, with instruction from the university's jazz faculty. You can find more information and a signup form at http://www.webster.edu/fine-arts/departments/music/summer-programs/jazz-camp.html