About this Event
Adam Larson moved from New York to Kansas City in 2019, and the week he closed on the house, the UMKC Conservatory offered him a job. He went to work teaching saxophone lessons and music business.
He's been invited to more than a hundred universities, the University of Cape Town, Yale, and the University of North Texas among them, to present masterclasses on improvisation, composition, and the music business. On Saturday, October 10, he takes up all three for two hours in the Blue Room, where he's played six times since 2024, most recently with his quartet on August 14.
A Normal, Illinois, native, he started saxophone at 11. He earned bachelor's and master's degrees in jazz performance on full scholarship at the Manhattan School of Music and was part of the New York scene for eleven years. Howard Reich of the Chicago Tribune called him "a player for whom the word 'prodigious' was coined." He's the author of twelve books of jazz etudes and four online courses, the newest of them The Magic of Melody (2025).
He's recorded nine albums as a leader, and DownBeat gave one of them, With Love, From Chicago (2022), 4.5 stars. He's written more than 200 tunes for his own groups and more than thirty commissioned works for school jazz ensembles. The Illinois Music Educators Association commissioned him to write its All-State composition for the 2020 convention, where he also directed the Honors Jazz Band.
He wrote Practical Stuff for Survival: A Musician's Guide to Freelancing and built a course called Music Business Bootcamp. He's also taught entrepreneurship at the Kansas City Art Institute.
Bring your instrument. He'll demonstrate improvisation, have participants play for him and with him, and leave room for questions. Participants also receive a PDF covering the material he goes over.
The workshop is open to musicians on any instrument and in any style, from middle school students to working players. Band directors and teachers are welcome to come with their students.
- The Blue Room, 1600 E 18th St, Kansas City, MO 64108
- Saturday, October 10, 2026, 10:30 am to 12:30 pm
- $20 students and educators; $35 general admission
Kansas City Jazz Academy students attend free and don't need a ticket; Jazz Academy teachers will check you in at the door.
Event venue & nearby stays
Blue Room, 1600 East 18th Street, Kansas City, United States
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