The Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts is facing challenges, executive director Jeff Flowers says. But after a decade-long run, surviving venue changes and its founder’s death, the nonprofit that elevates live music is still here.
And that’s worth celebrating.
“I wouldn’t say it’s a miracle” the organization is still around, Flowers says. “But it’s close.”
The Blue Bamboo will present a 10th-anniversary concert on June 28 at its current home in the former Winter Park Library building. Headlining will be the Orlando Jazz Orchestra — the first ensemble to lead a Blue Bamboo concert at its original location a decade ago and the first to christen its current stage.
A lot has happened with the organization over the past 10 years, not all of it welcome.
“It’s been a challenge, particularly the last couple of years,” Flowers says with understatement. “But the big message is Blue Bamboo is here, and we’re here to stay.”
The Blue Bamboo was the dream of jazz musician Chris Cortez, who opened the original venue in 2016 in a warehouse space on Kentucky Avenue in Winter Park. But when a new landlord tripled the rent in 2023, the organization moved on. It landed in June of 2025 at the former Winter Park Library building, where a lot of work was needed to transform the space.
In October, a deal with Central Florida Vocal Arts to share the space fell apart. But the biggest blow came in December, just four days before Christmas: Cortez died weeks after the discovery of brain cancer.
Flowers says Cortez’s presence will be felt at the anniversary concert.
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“His spirit’s in the room,” says Flowers, pointing out that the Blue Bamboo plays recordings of Cortez’s music at intermissions and between acts. “He’s still part of the show. We’re moving ahead, and that’s what he wanted.”
Moving ahead, though, has come with new challenges.
Flowers is in discussions with Winter Park officials about mitigating an upcoming rent increase that will double the nonprofit’s monthly payment to the city, which owns the building. He’s also looking for changes to the lease agreement to provide more options for subleasing space in the building.
Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts reopened in the former Winter Park Library building with a performance from the Orlando Jazz Orchestra in 2025. Now the orchestra is helping celebrate the organization’s 10th anniversary. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
The Blue Bamboo just received its official certificate of occupancy for the first floor, which means attention will now move to the upper stories, Flowers says.
And despite the uncertainty with the building, Flowers says the organization is in good shape. In the past 12 months, Blue Bamboo has paid out $200,000 to musicians.
“That’s putting money in the hands of the people onstage,” he says.
Attendance is up, he says, with more than a hundred people at the last two “Thursday Hangs,” an informal evening of jazz-related jamming.
Chris Cortez, pictured in 2020, founded the Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts. He died in 2025 of brain cancer. (Patrick Connolly/Orlando Sentinel)
It’s that community response to the space and the live music it provides that gives him hope for the future.
“We have been amazed by the reaction of our audiences and the passion of our audiences,” he says. “In one week, we received 75 messages of support.”
He hopes city officials will help keep the momentum going: “Winter Park is the city of arts and culture,” he says. “That’s what we want.”
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And for the moment, Flowers is excited to celebrate with the Orlando Jazz Orchestra.
“These guys opened 10 years ago for us,” he says. “It’s coming full circle.”
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Anniversary concert
• What: The Orlando Jazz Orchestra celebrates a decade of the Blue Bamboo
• When: 3 p.m. June 28
• Where: Blue Bamboo Center for the Arts, 460 E. New England Ave. in Winter Park
• Cost: $25.86-$42.42
• Info: bluebambooartcenter.com