Canada Cuba Summer Jazz Academy
July 1st - 8th, 2025

The Canada Cuba Summer Jazz Academy (CCSJA) is an exciting new music education program that has been designed for Canadian high school music students. 

Participants will travel to Varadero, Cuba and discover the important ties between Afro-Cuban music, culture and history and jazz! Over the course of the week, students will workshop classic Cuban repertoire, discover the rhythms of the Mambo, Rumba and Son Cubano under the direction of one of Cuba’s foremost music educators Daya Aceituno Rodriguez.

Students will attend masterclasses on Afro-Cuban drumming & dance, salsa dancing, work in rehearsal with Cuban musicians and attend performances by local musicians. Each day students will participate in nearly daily excursions to historic and culturally relevant sites on the island while also having plenty of time to enjoy the beach, pool and resort. The Canada Cuba Summer Jazz Academy will be hosted at the Hotel ROC Arenas Doradas in Varadero, Cuba.

Trip Information

Pricing - $2,395.00 for the week of July 1 to 8, 2025

Program Includes: Round trip airfare from Toronto to Cuba, 7 nights hotel accommodation based on double occupancy in air-conditioned rooms with private bath, breakfast, lunch and dinner daily (all-inclusive hotel), coordination and entrance/participation fees for classes/workshops/ performances/tours, translators/guides, local facilitators, ground transportation via modern air-conditioned bus as per itinerary, Cuban visa, and all Cuban and Canadian taxes. Not Included: 1 lunch outside of the hotel, optional activities, personal expenses and tips.

Please Note: Hotels, restaurant and recreational facilities are quite expensive by local standards. You may choose to invite Cuban students and teachers to participate in social activities with your group. This is always warmly received, however, you as host, are expected to assume the cost of the invitation as it is beyond the means of most Cubans. We recommend you check with your guide for suggestions before extending any invitations to activities not included in the itinerary. Depending on local conditions the order of activities may not be as indicated, we reserve the right to adjust the itinerary if required for the safe and proper management of the tour. 

Excursions & Opportunities

Artistic Directors

JULES ESTRIN

Jules has been teaching band for the Toronto District School Board for the past 25 years and maintains a busy schedule giving master classes, lectures and clinics on band and jazz band pedagogy. Recently he has presented at the Ontario Music Educators Conference, Ontario Institute for Studies in Education, Laurier University, Peel District School Board, Halton District School Board and has adjudicated at music festivals across Canada. Jules is currently serving as Musical Director for the Toronto Jazz Academy Orchestra and High RenditioJazz in Oakville, Ontario. In 2019 he was appointed Director of Jazz at Interprovincial Music Camp in Parry Sound, Ontario. His groups have performed with legendary jazz artists Randy Brecker, Bucky Pizzarelli, Lew Tabackin, Tom Scott, Wycliffe Gordon and Joey DeFrancesco. Jules is a graduate of McGill University and the University of Toronto.

DAYA ACEITUNO RODRÍGUEZ

Daya a native of Havana, Cuba, has been dedicated to music since an early age. As a euphonium player, she graduated from Havana’s prestigious Amadeo Roldán Conservatory in 2009 specializing in performance and graduated from Instituto Superior de Arte (ISA) Cuba’s national university of arts in 2015. Daya performs on euphonium with the Provincial Band of Havana and has spent nine years as Director of Banda Boyeros, Cuba’s only band that dances as it performs. Her busy schedule also includes teaching band at the Alejandro García Caturla Conservatory and the National School of Arts, both in Havana. In 2019 and 2022 under Daya’s direction, Banda Boyeros won top prize at Cuba’s National Music awards in the concert band category. Daya is highly respected in the Cuban music scene and the Boyeros band has been seen numerous times on Cuban TV. Daya’s high energy approach to music is infectious!

Itinerary

Day 1

Day 2

Day 3

Day 4

Day 5

Day 6

Day 7

Day 8