Aspiring musicians from near and far have gathered at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel to partake in the New Orleans Traditional Jazz Camp, an annual week-long program for adults founded by music educator Leslie Cooper, drummer Nita Hemeter, and OffBeat’s June cover artist, jazz vocalist Banu Gibson.

The three local activists share a passion for New Orleans music and a goal of perpetuating the early style of jazz as it was originally performed in New Orleans.

They founded the camp as a means for adults to learn trad jazz, raise technical proficiency and knowledge of the genre, and expose it to a larger, global audience.

From June 7 through June 12, musicians of all skill levels from around the world are staying at the Bourbon Orleans Hotel, participating in daily music lessons, listening to guest speakers, seeing some of the best live music acts (and other attractions) New Orleans has to offer, sitting in with performers around the city, and practicing with each other in all sorts of combinations.

By the end of the week, each camp participant will have played with almost everyone else (vocalists aside) in a real-life exercise of what a career jazz musician experiences (such as last minute lineup changes; playing with bandmates of different skill levels on different nights; and the general need to be flexible and to be able to improvise).

The campers will also give several performances of their own as the week rolls on.

Tonight at 6:30 p.m., they’ll depart the Bourbon Orleans in the form of a massive second line parade, which Cooper laughingly described as the only second line in town with as many musicians as followers.

Thursday night, the camp’s vocalists will perform by the hotel pool. The following night, the instrumentalists give their final concert in the ballroom from 3 p.m. to 7 p.m. It’s free and open to the public.

Various Jazz Camp-affiliated events will take place at Buffa’s Bar this weekend, including Lagniappe Day (the day after the camp technically ends), where campers that have stuck around are welcome to hang out and jam with local musicians.

The celebration is listed for 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. and will be followed by performances from Jenna Guidry, Banu Gibson, and the Small Jazz Band, a must-see group from Argentina.