The Teagarden Jazz Festival

Jazz with Personality

Saturday February 6th, 2027

The joy of early New Orleans-style jazz is at the heart of this scholastic combo festival, which is dedicated to fostering a better appreciation of this classic American art form.

Each year, scores of young musicians gather at the annual Teagarden Jazz Festival for experiences that take their musical skills to the next level. The 2026 event featured 30 youth jazz bands from around northern California. Next year marks the 20th Anniversary of the festival, and we are pleased to announce that our Guest Clinician will be trumpeter/vocalist/songwriter Bria Skonberg from New York City.

Bria Skonberg is a Juno-award winning artist, 10x Downbeat Rising Star, recipient of the Legend Award by the Society for the Preservation of the Great American Songbook and a 2025 nominee for the European "Academie du Jazz" awards. She has been called the “shining hope of hot jazz”(NY Times) and is considered “one of the most versatile and imposing musicians of her generation”(WSJ). She has been a featured artist at hundreds of festivals and stages the world over, including New Orleans Jazz Heritage, Kobe, Monterey, Breda, Newport and Montreal Jazz Festivals and recently at Carnegie Hall. Her debut LP on Sony Masterworks reached #5 on the Billboard Jazz charts. Her 7th studio album What it Means was recorded in New Orleans and received a rare 5 star Downbeat review. Her music has been streamed over 25 million times.  A professional band leader since her teens growing up in British Columbia, Canada, she moved to Vancouver and obtained her degree in Trumpet Performance from Capilano University. Since arriving in New York in 2010 she has been at the forefront of a revival of classic American music as both a performer and educator, programming concerts and workshops for students of all ages on behalf of Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Louis Armstrong House Museum, Jazz House Kids and more. She is a co-producer of the NY Hot Jazz Camp now in its 11th year. Bria is an active member of the Women in Jazz Organization, the International Trumpet Guild, and a Bach Conn-Selmer artist. Bria has a strong connection to Sacramento, and has been on the faculty of the SacJEF Teagarden Jazz Camp.

Registration for the festival opens Monday August 31, 2026.

Who Can Perform in the Festival?

The Teagarden Jazz Festival is open to all small ensembles of 4-9 musicians (up to 12 for brass bands with a max of 7 horns) performing at a time.  In addition to school bands, all festival divisions also include jazz combos & New Orleans-style brass bands from: 

• Self-directed student bands
• Private music teachers
• Non-profit community organizations
• Community bands
• Jazz Club/Societies

Small Ensembles will be accepted regardless of experience in the following categories:

• Elementary/Middle School
• High School 
• College

Festival Format

Each group will spend 45 minutes with three clinicians. Clinicians will provide feedback of your performance of three tunes (lead sheets) with the option of spending a portion of the clinic teaching your group a jazz composition totally by ear, focusing upon aural training and improvisation. If you have nothing prepared to bring to The Teagarden Jazz Festival, you can have your clinicians introduce your ensemble to a selection of lead sheets of your choice (bring with you) or spend your entire session on aural training and improvisation.

Band Registration Information

Registration for the 2026 Teagarden Jazz Festival is now closed.