46th annual Jazz Weekend brings students from 22 high schools to CMU
Weekend commences despite inclement weather
Detroit senior Jeffery David Smith Jr. hands out awards for high school jazz bands on Feb. 1 in Plachta Auditorium.
High school jazz bands and professionals from across Michigan trekked to Central Michigan University to perform in the 46th annual Jazz Weekend Jan. 31 and Feb. 1.
Hosted by the School of Music and CMU music fraternity Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia, the event allows high school student musicians to play in front of professional judges at CMU and gives them an inside look at the university's music program.
“For the past 46 years, CMU has put on this jazz festival so young musicians, such as yourselves, have a chance to compete against your peers, educate yourselves in jazz music and listen to amazing performances by world class guest artists,” said Detroit senior Jeffrey David Smith Jr., Coordinator of Phi Mu Alpha, in a speech welcoming high schoolers.
Due to the ongoing weather in the state of Michigan, several schools that signed up for Jazz Weekend were unable to attend.
Less than half of the schools that signed up were able to attend the event. There were 22 schools present out of 55 that registered for the weekend.
“For most of the schools, it was because the school canceled and they have policies where they can’t have groups traveling around the state if school is canceled that day,” said Director of Music Events Kristin Pagels.
For those able to attend, the weekend kicked off on Thursday, Jan. 31at 7:30 p.m. with a concert featuring the Jazz Lab 1, CMU's top tier jazz band, as well as the CMU Faculty Jazz Ensemble.
Pagels said that she believes there was some confusion with whether or not the concert was cancelled due to the campus being closed.
On Friday, Feb. 1 high school ensembles began their performances in front of a panel of judges at 8 a.m.
“We hired 16 adjudicators for this festival, most of them are educators and we really trust their opinions,” said Rob Smith, School of Music faculty.
When not performing, participants were able to sit in as other bands competed, listen to CMU's bands and participate in clinics with Randy Moore, Canadian saxophonist Kirk MacDonald and percussionist Adam Nussbaum.
Henry Ford II High School Band Director Matt Schoenherr said his favorite part of Jazz Weekend is being able to listen and expose his students to the different levels of jazz music, ranging from high school to college and professional.
"The event gives the students more confidence, exposes them to broader ranges of music and impacts their everyday rehearsals,” Schoenherr said.
As all high school performances came to an end, Jazz Central played for participants in Plachta Auditorium at 3:15 p.m., followed by Jazz Lab 1. Immediately after the CMU performances, an awards ceremony was held to honor the participants.
The bands were split into six classes and presented awards based on those classes. For each class there was an Outstanding Section, Outstanding Soloist and Outstanding Band, with first and second runner ups where applicable.
Lapeer High School senior Kearston Thomas said as it was her first year attending Jazz Weekend, she was really happy with the experience and how her school performed.
“It was really amazing to see other jazz bands, this is my first year in jazz band and it made me wish I joined sooner,” Thomas said.
The final performance for Jazz Weekend featured guest artists Canadian saxophonist Kirk MacDonald and percussionist Adam Nussbaum in Plachta Auditorium at 8 p.m. The performance consisted solely of MacDonald’s original compositions.
“I have never heard or played a Kirk MacDonald tune that I didn’t like,” Robbie Smith said.
During the beginning of the performance, trumpet player Robbie Smith joined MacDonald and Nussbaum, along with Western Michigan University graduate Tom Lockwood on bass and CMU alumni Steve Talaga on piano and Cory Allen on guitar. Jazz Lab 1 accompanied Nussbaum and MacDonald for the last half of the show.
“I have had a great time working with the students here at Central Michigan University, rehearsing with the big band and taught a nice class here,” MacDonald said.
