Looking for higher competition, the jazz band has decided to make the switch this year from ‘A’ class to open class, involving more work by the band.
According to junior trumpet player Chaya Thomas, the jazz band competes in five competitions per year.
“We perform three pieces at each show. The band has a certain time when we perform, and that’s when the judges judge our performance,” Thomas said.
According to Thomas, being a part of the jazz band has some big responsibilities.
“There is definitely a lot of pressure. Sometimes it’s [about] being [able] to perform well, but it’s really becoming more about how we feel about what rating the judges gave us. We always strive for excellence,” Thomas said.
This year the jazz band moved up from ‘A’ class to open class.
The class of the band determines the standard by which each band is judged by. According to jazz band and orchestra director Adam Tucker, they made the right decision to make the class switch.
“In jazz there’s ‘A’ class and open class. ‘A’ class is for a band that has freshmen and sophomores. Open classes [are] for those bands that have older students. So we wanted to do open class and that means you have to do more advanced songs,” Tucker said.
Tucker said that at first, he was a little nervous about the switch because of the harder songs.
“I was really nervous, but the students pushed me to do open class and they made the right decision. We’re doing really well. We’ve had a lot of judges say to us that we made the right choice to switch,” Tucker said. “I’m super proud of them because I would not have done this if they hadn’t pushed me to do it.”
Senior trombone player Bradley Evans said that the switch to open class was a bit tedious.
“We were nervous about it, but it turned out great. We’re excelling in open class and we really enjoy the extra level of competition and rigor in judging and I’m glad we did it,” Evans said.
According to Evans, there are many challenges to being a band in open class.
Being in open class means that there will be much more competition.
Evans says that it’s been hard for the band to adjust to the new system as they have not been getting the section awards they are used to.
Jazz bands can be a great environment for many students as it allows them to relax, according to Evans.
“It’s a great break in my day. I could be having a rough morning, but then if we have a good jazz band class, my whole day has turned around, which I really appreciate. I’ve met a lot of great people and a lot of great musicians,” Evans said.
Apart from the jazz band, the high school also offers an introductory class for those who are just getting into a jazz band called lab band. Lab band is an introductory class to jazz band.
According to lab band director Alicia Simpson, to get into lab band students have to audition.
“Students audition on their instrument for the ensemble, so we’ll have kids who have done jazz in middle school or kids who are in other bands and they just want to try it out,” Simpson said.
Simpson said that a lab band can provide students with the future skills they need to be successful in a jazz band.