The Rhodes & South Aegean International Jazz Festival will bring masterclasses, academic research and live performances to students and educators in Greece this October, according to rhodes.online.
The festival, organized by Jazz Democracy NPO under artistic director Dimitrios Vasilakis, runs Oct. 23-24, 2026, and will feature artists from the U.S., Puerto Rico, Greece, Cyprus, Slovakia, Albania, Turkey, Austria and Cuba, rhodes.online reported.
Faculty members from the College-Conservatory of Music at the University of Cincinnati, including Craig Bailey and Scott Belck, will conduct masterclasses for students at the Rhodes Music School and in the Department of Music Studies at the University of Athens, the report said. A seven-member CCM faculty ensemble will also perform, bringing contemporary American jazz and the school’s educational tradition to Rhodes.
The festival will run alongside the MedMus – Mediterranean Improvisations international academic conference, expected to bring together 24 researchers from seven countries at the Nestorideion Melathron museum. The conference is part of the MedMus research program involving France’s CNRS, the French School of Athens, the University of Ioannina and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens.
Educational activities will create opportunities for direct interaction with students, college students, educators, children and families, rhodes.online reported. The festival’s research dimension also includes work by Vasilakis on jazz mapping, artificial intelligence and new technologies in musical improvisation, conducted with institutions including Georgia Tech, IRCAM in Paris and Queen Mary University of London.
For more information, visit rhodes.com.gr.