The Open Jazz House School (OJHS) was founded in 1980 as the educational pillar of the Cologne Jazz House initiative. From the very beginning, however, the OJHS saw itself not only as a music school with a focus on jazz, but also as a socio-cultural center that considers cultural education work to be part of its mission. For example, the network project “Sounds Of Buchheim – Urban Community Music”, which was launched in 2008 in the Buchheim district of Cologne on the right bank of the Rhine and has been continuously developed ever since. Since then, people of all ages with different cultural, social and educational backgrounds, with and without previous musical knowledge, have taken advantage of various opportunities to make music together in different band projects with professional support and free of charge. With an inclusive and artistic approach, the aim is to meet the needs, interests, starting points and development potential of each individual with the greatest possible openness. And all of this works exclusively under the aspect of “do it yourself”: from composing the music to writing the lyrics to organizing the concerts.