This program is a unique music residency for high school students in Grades 8 – 12 from Metro Vancouver co-presented by Coastal Jazz, the Vancouver Jazz Orchestra and Vancouver Community College.
Up to 21 talented teens are selected from an audition process open to students in Grades 8-12 from over 150 schools across the Lower Mainland. Successful participants will have the opportunity to cultivate their talents and networks through mentorship by a professional band director and members of the Vancouver Jazz Orchestra over five weeks of rehearsals in May-June. The intensive culminates with a live performance in the 2026 Vancouver International Jazz Festival on July 5th at Performance Works. Mentors involved in this year’s collaboration with the VJO are trumpet mentor and bandleader Bill Clark, VJO artistic director James Danderfer, trombone mentor Casey Thomas-Burns, sax mentor Brent Mah, and rhythm section mentor Sharon Minemoto.
How to Apply:
Applications are now open for the 2026 intake of the VYJO. Please click here to submit your application.
Audition requirements can be found here.
Timeline:
April 1st: Applications open
April 30th: applications close and all supporting materials must be received
Early May: students will be notified of acceptance by the second week of May
Rehearsals will take place:
Saturday June 6, 13, 20, 27 and July 4 at Vancouver Community College from 10am-1pm.
July 5th, 2pm at Performance Works: Final performance at the Vancouver International Jazz Festival!
About the 2026 VYJO Bandleader
Bill Clark has been active in Vancouver’s jazz community as a trumpet player, composer and educator for the last 40 years. He has been a featured soloist and composer with multiple award-winning ensembles, including the Vancouver Ensemble of Jazz Improvisation (VEJI), The Bill Clark Sextet, The Hard Rubber Orchestra, The New Orchestra Workshop (NOW), The Powder Blues, The Electric Miles Band and the acclaimed improvisation ensemble, Talking Pictures. Sought after as a clinician and educator, Bill is known for his inspired ability to foster and develop an environment of curiosity, exploration, improvisation and community in students from kindergarten to adult. As such Bill has been faculty at many of BC’s top Jazz Workshops; including the Delta, Okanagan, Douglas College, Courtenay and Kwantlen College Jazz workshops. Currently Bill is working with the VSO School of Music Jazz Faculty, and teaches music at Ecole Salish Secondary in Surrey, BC. Bill has his Masters Degree with a focus on improvisation from the prestigious California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) where he worked closely with bassist Charlie Haden and trumpeter Wadada Leo Smith.
