About Us
For thirty years, the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation (IJF) has championed the music, musicians, and legacy that make Indianapolis a vital part of the jazz story. Founded in 1996, the IJF builds its work around three pillars—education, performance, and legacy—creating opportunities for artists, engaging audiences, and inspiring the next generation.
At the heart of the IJF’s programming is Indy Jazz Fest, the city’s premier annual jazz festival. Presented by the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation and its partners, the community-wide celebration brings Indianapolis’ rich jazz heritage to life through world-class performances, educational programs, and shared experiences.
Indianapolis has produced and influenced some of jazz’s most celebrated figures, including Wes Montgomery, J. J. Johnson, Slide Hampton, Freddie Hubbard, Cole Porter, and Hoagy Carmichael. Their artistry, fueled by legendary venues and clubs along Indiana Avenue and throughout the city, helped create a thriving jazz scene that left an enduring mark on this uniquely American art form.
Today, the IJF carries that legacy forward. Through Indy Jazz Fest and year-round programming, audiences connect with Indianapolis’ jazz heritage through live music, workshops, panel discussions, and opportunities to gather and celebrate this legacy. By honoring the past while investing in the future, the IJF helps ensure that jazz remains a dynamic and essential part of Indianapolis’ cultural landscape.
The Indianapolis Jazz Foundation is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization.
The mission of the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation is to preserve the rich legacy and promote the future of jazz music in Indianapolis through education and performance.
Because jazz is rooted in the African American community, it allows the Indianapolis Jazz Foundation (IJF) the honor of celebrating an art form that is a foremost American contribution to world culture; it invites opportunities for employment of people of color; it demands the responsibility to curate a genre of music that reflects expression of the socially unjust experience of Black men and women in America; and it requires sharing the richness of the Black culture. Indianapolis' jazz roots can be traced from the late 19th century to the mid-twentieth century when the city's Indiana Avenue rivaled Chicago, New Orleans, Kansas City, and New York as one of the hottest jazz scenes in the country. Over the last several decades urban development has caused detrimental changes to traditionally black neighborhoods, scattering their populations, closing their businesses, closeting their significant history, and undermining their cultural and social institutions. Additionally, artists of color, both past and present have been notoriously undervalued. Indianapolis Jazz Foundation works to reverse these detrimental effects by advancing artists of color and female artists, educating the community about the legacy of both yesterday’s and today’s artists, and perpetuating the art form through performance and commissioned works.
OUR TEAM
President
Vice President
Secretary
Treasurer
Festival Director
Artistic & Education Director
Development Director
Operations Manager
Our Blog
IJF Summer Concert Series It was the perfect evening at the Indianapolis Art Center for the...
By Mark Sheldon on Nuvo.net Aymée Nuviola , a multi-GRAMMY Winner and Latin GRAMMY Award winning...
By Kyle Long on WFYI 2024 has been a breakout year for jazz saxophonist Lakecia Benjamin....
An Amazing Curated Lineup of Local Talent The Indianapolis Jazz Foundation and Indy Jazz Fest partnered...
The Indianapolis Jazz Foundation is Pleased to Sponsor this Free Community Concert Series! Do you like...
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