Westchester Center for Jazz & Contemporary Music

We are currently enrolling for our 4 week in-person summer jazz workshop! Perfect for 8th- 12th graders looking to focus on ensemble playing, improvisation and music theory. Space is limited, register now at https://bit.ly/3gYukc0

Since June 2020 we have successfully been able to offer in person classes to all of our students! We are happy to announce we have openings available for our spring and summer curriculum taught by our director Joey Berkley. Class-size is limited to 8! Tell a friend...Spread the word...Let’s get back to making music together!

Happy Holidays Everyone! ‘Tis the season...

Here at the Westchester Jazz Center we are always looking into innovative ways to best serve our community! What better way then to give back?!? Beginning November 30th we will be offering free virtual workshops via Zoom, check out the flyer below and register now @ www.WestchesterJazzCenter.com/registration

It's great to be back working with our students at the Westchester Center for Jazz. All the new technology we've installed to make us Covid friendly also allows us to record and playback during rehearsal and also allows us to share what we do. It’s always enjoyable to watch our director Joey Berkley in action. Please check out the improvisation section of our Sunday class below!

Video # 2 - Working with our Thursday class . In case you missed my previous comments - We're back! And I am very grateful to be working with our students at the Westchester Center for Jazz. All the new technology we've installed to make us Covid friendly also allows us to record and playback during rehearsal and also allows us to share what we do. And always enjoyable to watch our director Joey Berkley in action. ... Joey as usual says it better than me: "For me, the journey of Jazz is about learning and expressing. I think we can all agree we now face historic uncertain times as musicians collectively. While we race to find the "new normal", as performing musicians we do not want to give up on the "only normal" and what it takes to get there. In our own way, the Westchester Center for Jazz and Contemporary Music is back at it live, expecting their students to know their scale/arpeggio exercises; rhythm-changes; time is Number 1; intonation matters, forever!!! I say, let's learn and teach for the one normal that matters most: Miles, Monk, Trane, Bird, Brecker, Ellington, SRV, James Brown, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong and on and on.....and In Our Own Sweet Way, the Westchester Center For Jazz is back at it live." - Joey Berkley

Working with our Thursday class! Did I mention that we are excited to be back?!?! #BackInSession #InPerson #Music #School #Jazz #MusicIsLife

It's great to be back working with our students at the Westchester Center for Jazz. All the new technology we've installed to make us Covid friendly also allows us to record and playback during rehearsal and also allows us to share what we do. It’s always enjoyable to watch our director Joey Berkley in action. Please check out the improvisation section of our Sunday class below!

Video # 2 - Working with our Thursday class . In case you missed my previous comments - We're back! And I am very grateful to be working with our students at the Westchester Center for Jazz. All the new technology we've installed to make us Covid friendly also allows us to record and playback during rehearsal and also allows us to share what we do. And always enjoyable to watch our director Joey Berkley in action. ... Joey as usual says it better than me: "For me, the journey of Jazz is about learning and expressing. I think we can all agree we now face historic uncertain times as musicians collectively. While we race to find the "new normal", as performing musicians we do not want to give up on the "only normal" and what it takes to get there. In our own way, the Westchester Center for Jazz and Contemporary Music is back at it live, expecting their students to know their scale/arpeggio exercises; rhythm-changes; time is Number 1; intonation matters, forever!!! I say, let's learn and teach for the one normal that matters most: Miles, Monk, Trane, Bird, Brecker, Ellington, SRV, James Brown, Hendrix, Stevie Wonder, Louis Armstrong and on and on.....and In Our Own Sweet Way, the Westchester Center For Jazz is back at it live." - Joey Berkley

Check out this video that outlines all of our latest updates and provisions in order to ensure a safe environment for the return of our students. With guidance form the CDC and our team’s collective efforts, we have made state of the art upgrades and accommodations so that we can all come together, social distance, play our tunes, and remain as safe as possible!

I am so excited to announce that we are back open for socially distanced in-person and virtual classes for the Fall 2020 season! In accordance with CDC guidelines, we will be limiting class sizes to 4 to 7 people. Interested in Beginner Improvisation & Theory, Jazz Improv, Composition, general skill building, and more? Click the link to learn more about our class offerings, schedule, and pricing!

I'm very excited that the Westchester Center for Jazz and Contemporary Music is a sponsor of this year's Jazz Festival in White Plains. Tonight I will be speaking on a panel about "Presenting Jazz in the Time of Covid". I'll be sharing some video with our director Joey Berkley along with my husband Paul of the changes we made at the Center to keep our students (and director) safe - and find ways that we can continue creating and performing music during this time. If you'd like to join me please use this link below at 6 PM! https://www.facebook.com/ArtsWestchester/live

I am happy to share some pictures from our first "Socially" distant small group jazz ensemble. I am incredibly grateful for the support of all our students and their families. We continue to do virtual classes as well for those that are more comfortable on-line but it is wonderful to be back to "in person" classes. Our director Joey Berkley and my husband Paul spent last weekend installing fans in all our windows that effectively circulate and bring in fresh air every 10-15... minutes. We are limiting class sizes to 6, and currently they range from as few as 2 people up to 6. Over the last few months, we have given private lessons to all our students, and then moved to small groups of 2-4. It has been incredibly rewarding to see all our students dig in and do their best and improve during this time. Very grateful to be back, and looking forward to sharing video and more as we move forward. Thanks for everyone's support Liz Sander

Happy 4th of July from our family to yours! Remember to always stand for justice and for what’s right!

#FBF Back to our humble beginnings! We are so thankful to all of our supporters and the Yonkers community at large! Our mission is to continue to strive to be better and deliver the highest quality material! Although times are troubling right now, we remain positive by focusing on the fact that our future with the people of Yonkers will be strong and prosperous! From our family to yours, we wish you well!! #Quarantine #Yonkers #Events #School #JazzMusic #HumbleBeginnings #BrightFuture

From our family to yours we wish you a #HappyEaster and a blessed #Passover. We are hoping that you all are happy and healthy! #Easter #Yonkers #NY #Center #Music

Our aim here at the Center is to continue to provide our community with wonderful Jazz performances as well as maintaining a healthy and safe environment for our students and staff. With that being said, we will be operating remotely until April 3rd. Our wonderful director, Joey Berkley, and our owners Liz and Paul are working tirelessly to develop online curricula and activities to keep our students engaged and learning! We hope that everyone is staying healthy and safe, our prayer go out to you all in these trying times. The school has always been about giving back in gratitude for what we've been given. If at some point in the future , you want to make a tax deductible donation to the school, please use the link below!

A big thank you to everyone who supported our 2nd Friday Concert Series last week; both in person and virtually! Among these crazy times we are so glad to still be able to bring music to our community! In support of the Yonkers Public Library Foundation we are donating 50% of all ticket sales for this season of performances! If you missed it, witness the magic below...Joey Berkley, Matt McDonald and The Joey Berkley Band everyone!