MSU Jazz at the National Collegiate Jazz Championship

January 17 and 18

Watch MSU Jazz ensembles take the national stage as they compete in the 2026 National Collegiate Jazz Championship, streamed live from Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. Led by Rodney Whitaker, director of jazz studies at Michigan State University, MSU returns to the championship for the fourth time as one of the nation’s ten leading university jazz programs in a dynamic weekend of competition and collaboration.

MSU Jazz has a strong history at this event, earning top finishes in each prior appearance—third place in 2020, first place in 2022, and third place again in 2023. The championship offers audiences an exciting opportunity to experience high-level big band and combo performances, along with the energy and artistry that define collegiate jazz at its best.

Jazz fans are invited to tune in live and support MSU’s student musicians as they perform on one of the world’s most iconic jazz stages.

MSU Jazz performance schedule

• 10:00 a.m. Big Band Competition, Parts 1 & 2
• 2:40 p.m. MSU Jazz Orchestra 1 (Competition Part 2, start time is approximate)

• 10:00 a.m. Jazz Combo Competition
• 10:30 a.m. MSU Jazz Nonet 1 (start time is approximate)
• 3:30 p.m. Big Band Competition Finals, Final Concert & Awards Ceremony – Jazz orchestra finalists perform, followed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, concluding with the awards ceremony at approximately 5:30 p.m.

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2026 Participating Programs

• Eastman School of Music (Rochester, NY)
• Huston-Tillotson University (Austin, TX)
• Michigan State University (East Lansing, MI)
• North Carolina Central University (Durham, NC)
• Northwestern University (Evanston, IL)
• The Ohio State University (Columbus, OH)
• Temple University (Philadelphia, PA)
• University of Central Florida (Orlando, FL)
• University of South Carolina (Columbia, SC)
• University of Texas at Austin (Austin, TX)