The award-winning CU Jazz Studies Program welcomes participation from students throughout the Boulder campus, regardless of major. All jazz bands and combos are placed through auditions held at the beginning of each semester, including three big bands and seven jazz combos. Each year, prominent jazz artists are invited to campus to perform and conduct clinics. Recent guests include Arturo Sandoval, Nnenna Freelon, Wynton Marsalis, Joe Lovano, Bobby Shew, Poncho Sanchez, Eliane Elias, and many others. This year, the program welcomes composer Maria Schneider, trumpeter Jon Faddis, Art Lande, pianist Michael Weiss, Greg Gisbert & Rob Scheps, the Ron Miles Trio, pianist Erik Deutsch, and others.

Since its founding in 1920, the University of Colorado Boulder College of Music has earned a reputation not only for preparing students for successful careers in music, but also for providing them with an outstanding college education. The College of Music offers seven degree plans and over 23 fields of study, and its programs cover virtually all areas of music. The members of the College of Music's faculty are respected performers, composers, educators, and scholars who take a deep and lasting interest in the students of the College of Music. Internationally renowned artists such as Christopher Parkening, James Galway, Wynton Marsalis, and Leon Fleisher perform and teach master classes on campus.