• Family Matinees

Family Matinee Concerts

Created with families in mind, this concert series showcases leading musicians in reduced-price, hour-long, afternoon concerts, combining world-class artistry with interactive discussion and audience participation. Family Matinee programs features commentary by the performer as well as question-and-answer sessions in which audience members of all ages are invited to ask the artists about jazz, their instruments, music composition and performance, and about their lives as artists.

In this unique setting, children are encouraged to learn about the art of jazz firsthand through listening and interacting with the musicians. SFJAZZ curates Family Matinee performances that mine the increasing stylistic breadth of jazz, and immerse families in the multiethnic culture and heritage of its performers.

Children may dance onstage with the performers like Senegal’s Orchestra Baobab, recreating local village traditions, or be taught by a jazz master onstage, such as New Orleans native Ellis Marsalis, in an exposé of the mentor-protégé tradition through which jazz has proliferated.

Bobby McFerrin interacts with
a group of girls from the audience.

Ellis Marsalis plays the blues with a brave young audience member.

Bobby Hutcherson instructs four youngsters at the vibraphone.