MSJO is dedicated to creating opportunities for audiences to learn about Jazz- about the music itself as well as about its history and its profound cultural impact. Marcus Shelby's work includes curriculum design and/or consulting and teaching for music programs (all ages), artist talks in formal or alternative environments, composition, orchestration and arrangement classes for music students, educational performance program, multidisciplinary educational programs and private lessons.

“Essential to my personal and artistic goals alongside composing and performing, is creating opportunities for audiences to consider the art form of jazz as a distinctly American historic narrative. I am continually developing an approach to teaching jazz history and to exploring its capacity to create dialogue about American experiences. My approach to composing is rooted in the belief that telling African American stories through performance not only allows for a greater understanding of the
cultural experience and diverse opportunities for considering history and empowering the future, but also helps shape the future of all American performing arts. Inherent in this are opportunities for social change, for valuing culture in the discussion and for a greater overall understanding of creativity in a vibrant society.” Marcus Shelby

In addition to the work Marcus Shelby does as a music teacher, MSJO produces other educational programming.

Project Examples:

Jazz Talk and Listening Programs- Some topics include:
History of Duke Ellington's Music
Women in Jazz
Adapting Historic Texts for Jazz Composition
The History of Jazz
Jazz and Film Noir

All of these talks can be customized for different audiences from preschool to higher education and beyond and can be presented in formal academic environments, in a performance setting or in less formal venues. The programs encourage audience participation and include listening to musical samples from program context.

Marcus Shelby is currently on the faculty of the Young Musicians Program at Berkeley University, is an adjunct instructor of Composition for Jazz Orchestra with Stanford Jazz Workshop, Stanford University and is the 2006 Resident Dialogues Fellow with the Committee on Black Performing Arts at Stanford University where he is developing several approaches to creating
curriculum to teaching the history of the American Hero Harriet Tubman using jazz composition. For more information about the Stanford Committee on Black Performing Arts and the Harriet Tubman Curriculum, see below.

Marcus Shelby: Committee on Black Performing Arts Stanford University:
Resident Dialogues: Artist Fellowships

The Committee on Black Performing Arts (CBPA) is an interdisciplinary program in the humanities that engages students in both the theoretical investigation and the practice of multicultural performance. These critical explorations are carried out through programming that includes classes, workshops, public performances, a lecture series, symposia, and a literary
journal, as well as through artist residencies.

The cornerstone of CBPA is the artist-in-residence program, Resident Dialogues. This teaching residency brings together Artist Fellows, students, and organizations from the local community to engage in multidisciplinary workshops, discussions, and public performances. Its purpose is to explore the dynamics of ethnic identity, diversity, and social relations while providing a unique vehicle for learning. Through examinations of the complexities of artistic practice, racial construction, and cultural expression, CBPA reaches beyond the classroom to create collaborative art forms that are not currently part of the university art curriculum.

Specifically, the “Harriet Tubman” commission and attendant programming will allow students to learn about Fredrick Douglass, Nat Turner, Phyllis Wheatley, John Brown, The Stono Rebellion, The Mexican-American War, The Haitian Rebellion, The Civil War, The Dread Scott Law, The Harlem Renaissance, Black Wall Street, The Civil Rights Movement, Women's Suffrage, and other aspects of American history with an emphasis on African American history, using Harriet Tubman as a symbol of freedom. The programs will also include a broad based musical analysis of the composition. Participants will to learn about the history of jazz and how it evolved through slave songs, field cries, work songs, hymns, spirituals, blues, and other cultural
musical forms. These devices will be used in the oratorio “Harriet Tubman”, and will be employed as musical examples, combined with written content to explain its function and connection to the legacy of jazz.