The OFA will celebrate the 20th Anniversary of the Harvard Alumni Jazz Band April 9-12, 2026. We welcome all Harvard alumni and friends of jazz at Harvard to be part of this special weekend.

Make sure to RSVP and register by April 1st. Please note that some events require tickets to be purchased directly at the venue. If you have any questions, please write to Angie Durrell, angelica_durrell@fas.harvard.edu. 

20th Anniversary Celebrations

Thursday, April 9, 4:30-6pm
Music and Philosophy
Conversation with Sean Kelly, Dean of Arts and Humanities, and Aaron Goldberg, ’96
Thompson Room, Barker Center, 12 Quincy St., Cambridge
No RSVP or tickets required

Friday, April 10, 6-7pm
OFA Alumni Welcome Reception
Signet Society, 46 Dunster St., Cambridge.
Please RSVP

Friday, April 10, 7:30pm
Laszlo Gardony Quartet
featuring Don Braden '85, Yoron Israel, John Lockwood
Regatta Bar at the Charles Hotel, 1 Bennett St., Cambridge
Separate ticket purchase required through Regatta Bar

Saturday, April 11, 8pm
2026 Distinguished Jazz Artist-in-Residence, Stefon Harris, & Harvard Alumni Jazz Band
featuring Aaron Goldberg ’96, Sara Lazarus ’84, and Don Braden ’85 and Harvard Jazz Orchestra
Sanders Theatre, 45 Quincy St., Cambridge.
Separate ticket purchase required through the Harvard Box Office

Sunday, April 12, 10am-12pm
Brunch and Jam Session
Leverett House Library, 28 DeWolfe St., Cambridge.
Please RSVP

Esteemed Alumni Guest Artists

The OFA and the Alumni Jazz Band welcome Aaron Goldberg ’96, Sara Lazarus ’84, and Don Braden ’85.

2026 Distinguished Jazz Artist in Residence

Stefon Harris

Brief History of the Harvard Alumni Jazz Band

The Harvard Alumni Jazz Band took shape after a conversation between Jill Suttenberg Altshuler ’87 and Jeff Wu ’82 at Harvard’s 30 Years of Jazz celebration in 2002. While commiserating about how much they missed playing in a big band, they thought: wouldn’t it be fun if there were a big band comprised of local Harvard Jazz Band alumni?  

Four years later, encouraged by longtime jazz program director Tom Everett, Altshuler organized an initial gathering. On March 2, 2006, sixteen alumni met to read through big-band charts from their college days—and decided then and there to make it a regular thing. Monthly Thursday night rehearsals followed and continue to this day. Six of the original players are still in the band, which now includes Harvard alumni spanning five decades.

The band made its first public appearance at The Afro-Cuban Jazz Connection in April 2007, sharing the Sanders Theatre stage with the Harvard Monday Jazz Band featuring jazz great Eddie Palmieri. Today, the band anchors its year with annual summer concerts at Robbins Farm Park and the Charlestown Navy Yard, now in their 17th and 15th years respectively, and for many years presented a joint concert with the Sunday Jazz Band at Cabot House. Other highlights include performances at the Scullers Jazz Club and POSTUnderground, and Harvard 25th Reunion talent shows at Sanders Theatre.

Send us your photos! We would love to receive photos of alumni from your school days or with the alumni jazz band! Please upload pictures here.

Special Thanks

Special thanks to Jill Suttenberg Altshuler AB '87, MBA '94 and David M. Altshuler MD '90, PhD '90, for their generous support of Jazz at Harvard.

To donate to the Everett Jazz Innovation Fund at the Office for the Arts, please use our online donation page or mail a check to: Kathryn Rosenberg, 74 Mt. Auburn Street, Cambridge, MA 02138 with "Jazz Innovation Fund" in the memo line. 

For additional information on how you can support students through the Jazz Innovation Fund, please contact Fiona Coffey, fiona_coffey@fas.harvard.edu.