The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz is a non-profit music education organization founded in 1986. Before 2019, it was known as the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz, but was then renamed after its longtime board chairman, Herbie Hancock.^[1]

The institute has held its International Jazz Competition annually since 1987 and offered a full scholarship graduate-level college program since 1995. It organizes free jazz education programs in public schools throughout the United States and the world “to encourage imaginative thinking, creativity, a positive self-image and respect for one’s own and others’ cultural heritage.”^[2] It is also the lead non-profit responsible for coordinating the annual celebration of International Jazz Day, a United Nations initiative.^[3]

One of the institute's earliest goals was to create a unique college-level jazz program where the masters of jazz could pass on their expertise to the next generation of jazz musicians. In September 1995, the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Performance was launched and the first class of seven students began their intensive training with some of the world's greatest musicians. The performance institute was located at Loyola University New Orleans before relocating in 2011.

Now known as the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz Performance, the two-year, tuition-free program accepts one ensemble of musicians for each class. All of the students receive full scholarships, as well as stipends to cover their monthly living expenses. The students study both individually and as a small group, receiving personal mentoring, ensemble coaching, and lectures on the jazz tradition. They are also encouraged to experiment in expanding jazz in new directions through their compositions and performances. Alumni include Ambrose Akinmusire, Lionel Loueke, Michael Mayo, Helen Sung, Carmen Staaf, Walter Smith III, Wayne Escoffery, Eli Degibri and Gretchen Parlato.^[4] The institute is currently located at the Herb Alpert School of Music at the University of California, Los Angeles. In October 2021, the 13th class was announced, including eight young musicians from the United States and Russia.^[5]

In addition to their rigorous course of studies, students in the program perform regularly at venues throughout Los Angeles and serve as mentors and educators both in the local community and on Institute jazz education tours across the United States and internationally. Recent classes have visited Sitka, AK;^[6] Phoenix, AZ;^[7] Morocco, Havana, Cuba; Saint Petersburg, Russia; Panama City, Panama; and Melbourne, Sydney and Mt. Gambier, Australia.^[8]

Since 1987, the institute has presented an annual international competition. More than $100,000 in scholarships and prizes is awarded to musicians and composers each year. The competition focuses on a different instrument every year and features a panel of judges. Branford Marsalis, Pat Metheny, Herbie Hancock, Christian McBride, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Dianne Reeves, Hugh Masekela, Arturo Sandoval, Ron Carter, Wayne Shorter, Clark Terry, Marian McPartland, Quincy Jones, and Diana Krall have all served as judges at past competitions.^[9]

The competition has been won by Joshua Redman, winner of the 1991 saxophone competition, Marcus Roberts, winner of the 1987 piano competition, Ryan Kisor, winner of the 1990 trumpet competition, and Joey DeFrancesco, a finalist in the 1987 piano competition. The 1993 piano competition winner, Jacky Terrasson, signed with Blue Note Records. The 1998 vocals competition produced: the late Teri Thornton, winner of the competition who signed with Verve Records; second-place winner Jane Monheit who signed with Columbia; semifinalist Tierney Sutton who signed with Telarc; and third-place winner Roberta Gambarini, whose American debut album, Easy to Love, was nominated for a 2007 Grammy for Best Jazz Vocal Performance, Female. Aaron Parks placed third in the piano competition of 2006 and was subsequently signed by Blue Note Records. Recent winners include GRAMMY Award-winning vocalist Cécile McLorin Salvant (2010), Emmy Award-winning pianist and composer Kris Bowers (2011), saxophonist Melissa Aldana (2013), vocalist Jazzmeia Horn (2015) and guitarist Evgeny Pobozhiy (2019).^[10] Dozens of other finalists and semifinalists have forged successful careers as jazz performers and educators.

In November 2011, the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) officially designated April 30 as International Jazz Day to celebrate jazz as a universal language and tool for diplomacy. International Jazz Day is chaired and led by UNESCO Director General Audrey Azoulay and jazz pianist/composer Herbie Hancock, who serves as a UNESCO Ambassador for Intercultural Dialogue. The institute is the lead nonprofit organization charged with planning, promoting and producing this annual celebration, which began in 2012.

International Jazz Day was established to bring together communities, schools, artists, historians, academics, and jazz enthusiasts all over the world to learn about jazz and its roots. This day seeks to raise awareness of the need for intercultural dialogue and mutual understanding; and also to reinforce international cooperation and communication. Each year on April 30, International Jazz Day celebrates jazz as a symbol for promoting peace, fostering dialogue among cultures, allowing freedom of expression, and reinforcing the role of youth for social change.^[12]

International Jazz Day is celebrated in more than 190 countries on all seven continents.^[13]

The institute has produced a series of television specials to highlight the importance of jazz. In 1986, the institute produced "Celebrating a Jazz Master: Thelonious Sphere Monk," a PBS tribute concert hosted by Bill Cosby. In 1993, the institute coordinated "A White House Jazz Festival", the first "In Performance at The White House" PBS special taped with President and Mrs. Clinton. In 1996, the institute produced "A Celebration of America's Music", the first network television special devoted to jazz in over 25 years, which aired on ABC. A second "A Celebration of America's Music" aired in 1998. In 2006, President and Mrs. Bush hosted a concert celebrating the institute's 20th anniversary that aired as an "In Performance at The White House" PBS special hosted by Barbara Walters. In addition, the institute's international jazz competitions have been featured as documentaries on Black Entertainment Television and its affiliates.

More recently, in 2016 the institute produced a network television special in honor of the fifth anniversary of International Jazz Day on ABC, “Jazz at the White House,” filmed at the White House and hosted by President Barack Obama and First Lady Michelle Obama.^[24] The special was subsequently nominated for an Emmy for Outstanding Music Direction by John Beasley.^[25] Since 2012, the institute has produced television specials for PBS focusing on the annual celebration of International Jazz Day, with “International Jazz Day 2022” airing nationally in April 2022.^[26]

Billy Dee Williams has donated artwork that has been used as the cover of the institute's International Jazz Competition since 1990. The artwork corresponds with the instrument being featured in that year's competition.