Residencies

Beyond his work as a performer and educator, Jordan VanHemert has been an active participant in artist residencies and creative initiatives that reflect his commitment to collaboration, cultural exchange, and community engagement. Through these residencies, he has worked alongside internationally recognized musicians, educators, and students while developing original compositions, leading workshops, and fostering dialogue around identity, artistry, and the evolving language of jazz. His residency experiences have further strengthened his role not only as a contemporary post-bop artist, but also as a cultural ambassador who uses music as a bridge between traditions, generations, and global communities.

Explore Residency Offerings Below

Residency Offerings

A man sitting on metal stairs holding a gold-colored saxophone, wearing a light gray zip-up jacket over a collared shirt, with short dark hair and smiling.

  • The saxophone is an instrument that has traversed great genre territory through its less than 200 year history. The saxophone can blend into any situation, and rather than compartmentalize, I suggest that saxophones embrace the discomfort of learning in multiple genres. Multi-genre performance can be enriching and exciting to both musician and audience, and it leaves the saxophonist able to rise above the false narrative created by a classical/jazz dichotomy. 

    Audience: Advanced high school and collegiate saxophone students

  • Korean music has very little harmonic underpinning, and this workshop explores the process of reharmonizing and text painting according to the stories that are preserved through these folk songs. 

    Audience: Composition/Arranging Students

    Objectives: Students will understand the interaction between harmonic colors and melody, learning how to tell their own story through these common devices.

  • Through over a decade of big band directing experience, I bring an approach to big band coaching that is rooted in collaboration and clarity. The jazz ensemble is a chamber group, and it requires all musicians to feel like they are part of the process. Through demonstration, deconstructing the ensemble, and focused listening, Jordan employs his coaching strategies with ensembles from around the world. 

    I can also do a reading session of new works by student composers. 

    Audience: Big bands

  • Using compositional devices in real time can be a helpful way to develop improvisers. 

    Audience: any level of jazz improvisation student, any instrument.

    Objectives: Students will learn to develop their own ideas through composition and application of composed materials.

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Recent Residencies

  • An outdoor concert at night with a large audience, a stage with colorful lighting, and two big screens displaying the performers, surrounded by tall buildings.

    Taichung Jazz Festival

    2026- 4 Day Festival

    Performing at the Taichung Jazz Festival with Rei’s Moving Castle and the Jocelyn Gould Quartet.

  • Nighttime cityscape featuring a large university building with illuminated windows, a sign in Korean on the roof, and a landscaped courtyard with people walking.

    Sungshin Women’s University

    2025

    Pansori Meets Jazz featuring Heewon Park and Lisa Sung, presented at Sungshin Women’s University

  • A city park with modern glass structures, trees, people walking, and surrounding tall buildings.

    Seoul National University

    2025

    Lisa Sung band presentation to Dr. Josh Song’s Intro to Jazz class.

  • Outdoor concert stage with a large crowd watching live music performance in a park with trees, during daytime.

    Seoul Jazz Festa

    2025

    Performing with the Seoul Jazz Friends as part of Seoul’s official celebration for International Jazz Day

  • A large residential or hotel complex with a central courtyard, green lawn, and a pathway leading to a white building with a tower, under twilight sky.

    Lamar University

    2025- 3 Day Residency

    Performance and rehearsal with the Lamar University Cardinal Jazz Orchestra, masterclass with the saxophone studio, masterclasses with jazz improvisation students. 

  • Students walking outside the R. Milton and Denice Johnson Center, a large red brick building with white columns and a prominent sign.

    Belmont University

    2024- 2 Day Residency

    Presented and performed as the official Asian Heritage Month guest speaker