SWING
Get Jazzed! is a weekly jazz music program series that runs multiple times per year.
Get Jazzed!
Learn to play jazz in a fun and supportive environment, alongside your peers.
More than a music class. Get Jazzed! is a swing jazz program of small-ensembles.
This is a non-audition music program for adult learners who can play an instrument but might feel unsure about jazz, improvisation, or playing with a group; no jazz experience is necessary.
You will become more confident playing with others and gain an understanding of how to play a variety of jazz standards. Improvising will be introduced and supported in an approachable way. Get Jazzed! is a compassionate and friendly music group. Find your music community with us.
IS GET JAZZED! FOR ME?
- I played saxophone in high school and want to start playing it again
- I’m classically trained in piano, and the thought of soloing scares me — but I want to learn how
- I played drums in a band for years and now want to learn jazz clarinet
- I’ve dabbled with guitar for decades but want to try something more focused
- I’m a former Get Jazzed! student and want to learn more
- I’ve always wanted to learn how to play off a lead sheet
- I’m a swing dancer who wants to learn to play the music I like dancing to
- I’ve always wanted to play in a jazz ensemble
Note: Some musical experience is required to participate.
- You should be comfortable reading basic notation or lead sheets (or willing to brush up)
- You don’t need to be advanced — a few years of lessons, band, or self-taught practice is enough
- You should have some basic familiarity with your instrument — a few scales, chords, or simple songs
- This isn’t a total-beginner program — some prior playing experience is expected
- Returning to an instrument after time away? That counts too
REGISTRATION:
Your registration includes:
- weekly sessions in a small jazz ensemble
- practical music theory classes (3 levels to match your individual needs)
- personalized coaching
- a supportive community of musicians
- free optional access to practice rooms 6:00 pm to 6:45 pm
- free optional access to Everyone Can Jazz Jam 6:00 pm to 6:45 pm
- Showcase Presentation (during band breaks) at Jazz Cats Social
- Fall 1 registrants: Sat Oct24, 2026
- Fall 2 registrants: Sat Nov28, 2026
Bonus for Get Jazzed! participants. Free entry into Everyone Can Jazz Jam (ECJJ) (see below for more details)
Tuesdays, 6:00 pm - 6:45 pm
Fall 1
Tuesdays, 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Sep 15 to Oct 20, 6 weeks, $246
Fall 1 & 2 Package Deal
Tuesdays, 7:00 pm - 9:30 pm
Fall 1: Sep 15 to Oct 20, 6 weeks, $246
Fall 2: Oct 27 to Dec 1, 6 weeks, $246
Discount Price: 12 weeks for the price of 11 weeks, $450
LOCATION:
New Westminster Secondary School, Band Room
820 6th St., New Westminster, BC 
BONUS
Everyone Can Jazz Jam
We are bringing back Everyone Can Jazz Jam (ECJJ), free for Get Jazzed! members. Enjoy 45 minutes of extra playing time from 6:00 pm to 6:45 pm. ECJJ is a supported beginner jazz jam. You can call songs from the ECJJ songbook. We will play music together in a friendly and supported environment. As a bonus opportunity, participants of Get Jazzed! may be invited to be a part of the house band for the jam or lead the ECJJ. This will be a great learning experience for anyone interested.
If you don’t feel like jamming, or if you want to warm up and practice on your own or with other members in a private practice space, the smaller studio practice rooms will be open and available (at no extra cost to Get Jazzed! members) between 6:00 pm and 6:45 pm.
Professional jazz clinicians who have worked with ensembles in Get Jazzed!:
Joelle Lush
Josh Roberts
Dean Edward Thiessen
Casey Thomas-Burns
Bonnie Northgraves
Dawn Pemberton
Kayden Gorden
Music Facilitators:
Lawrence Chan
Lawrence Chan has an ARCT in Piano Performance from the Royal Conservatory of Music. He recently began his transition from classical to jazz piano. He has been heavily immersed in, and addicted to, the swing dance culture for 20+ years (e.g. as a prolific dancer, DJ, instructor, competitor, performer, scene builder, etc.). Frustrated with the live swing music scene writ large, he decided that it was finally time for him to learn and perform the well-known swing jazz era songs that lindy hoppers are familiar with, but that most modern-day ensembles do not play. Lawrence also loves to talk swing jazz history and advanced music theory, so feel free to engage with him if you have nothing else better to do!
Jodie Haraga
Jodie Haraga is an educator, art therapist, and community arts leader who dances, plays bass, and builds creative spaces for connection. She began her musical journey more than four decades ago in a pit orchestra for student musicals, later co-founding the jangle-indie pop band January’s Answer in 2000 as vocalist, bassist, and songwriter. The band performed for nearly a decade, sharing messages of social justice and humanity. Since 2017, Jodie has created and led music programs for young people and adults, including a pop band program for elementary school students. She co-founded Uptown Swing Collective and Jazz Cats Social in 2022, and in 2025 launched Get Jazzed!
Dave Trinh
Dave Trinh is a swing dance teacher and jazz musician whose work focuses on helping dancers build a stronger relationship to jazz music. Through teaching, playing, and facilitating, he helps students explore rhythm, phrasing, musical feel, and structure in ways that support deeper listening and more connected dancing. In addition to the support he provides to Uptown Swing Collective, Dave is leading jazz bands for social dances and continuing to explore the relationship between live music and dance culture in Saigon.