“Jazz Academy“ vision developed from the idea to attract talented young-minded people, to help them spark their artistic expression and to form conditions that help them to spread their creativity and participation in the local and international community. Our aim is to promote jazz, rhythmic and improvisational music, to expand its audience, to improve understanding and performing of music, to engage in teaching and education. Our activity is to educate in a creatively stimulating manner, to improve performers skills, to take place in concerts, to organize musical projects and seminars.

Educational activities:

• Long term, non-formal educational program (2 years) on jazz and improvised music;
• Short term, non-formal education (workshops and lectures with local and international teachers) in music;
• Group lessons of theory;
• Ensembles;
• Masterclasses with invited teachers.

Performance activities:

• Hosting concerts of local and international young musicians;
• Presenting concerts of world-known jazz and improvisational artists.

Community activities:

• Creating a community for jazz and improvised music lovers, educating the audience;
•  Broadening network of various collaborations;
•  Offering space for local young visual artists to exhibit their works.

We are proud of the fact that we have managed to create “Jazz Academy“ – a high-quality space for jazz, improvised music and rhythmic music – disciplines that are often categorized as a very specific and marginal music form. In this context, we are proud to be able to host such a world-known improvised music artists as Michael Moore (Holland/USA), Vyacheslav Ganelin (Israel), Santiago Quintans (Spain).

We have highly professional musicians and educators in our team. One of the founders of the “Jazz Academy“, Arnas Mikalkenas, is an internationally recognized teacher and passionate person to inspire and educate young musicians in fields of jazz and improvised music. Arnas is a high-level, open-minded, welcoming, a professional and passionate musician that enthusiastically brings the world level experience in music to the community of Kaunas city and keeps educating young people in jazz and improvised music locally and internationally. 

Our teachers are experienced and inquiring people. They curiously want to know about the music life of Lithuania and abroad countries, actively participate in concerts, contributes to organizing musical projects.

Together, all teachers form a team with strong musical values and with clear tuition direction. Every teacher has its own methods of spreading the ideas of music. All of their experience helps to deepen knowledge about the chosen instrument and to found an individual path for every student.