UMKC Conservatory Jazz Studies offers degrees in Performance with a Jazz emphasis at both the undergraduate and graduate levels. Our faculty includes Bobby Watson, director of jazz studies, as well as 12 adjunct faculty who are among the top jazz musicians in the Kansas City area.

Our program regularly hosts prominent nationally and internationally known guest artists on campus for master classes and performances with the Conservatory Concert Jazz Ensemble. Some of those who have appeared on campus include Slide Hampton, Jimmy Owens, Ralph Peterson, Jon Faddis, Paquito De Rivera, John McNeil, Victor Lewis, Curtis Lundy, Ray Mantilla, Mulgrew Miller, and John Hicks.

The curriculum includes courses in Jazz Ear Training, Jazz Pedagogy, Jazz Styles and Analysis, Small Group and Big Band Arranging, The Business of Music, Jazz Keyboard Techniques, and private instruction on all instruments. Both the Concert Jazz Ensemble and the 11 O'Clock Jazz Band have appeared at the Notre Dame Jazz Festival and have consistently received superior ratings.

The Kansas City area provides many jazz venues where our student and faculty jazz combos perform in public throughout the year. Our goal is to assist students in gaining the type of hands-on experience that will fully prepare them for the professional world awaiting them upon graduation.