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Arts Education
Santa Cruz Hosts 22nd Student Jazz Festival
The Aptos High School jazz ensemble performs an afternoon set in the Music Center Recital Hall at U.C. Santa Cruz. (2004)
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On Friday, March 30th, and Saturday, March 31st, the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival will take over the UCSC campus and more than 3,000 of the west coast’s top jazz students will perform high caliber jazz during the course of two days and two nights. Performances on five stages, clinics, and master classes from some of today’s most acclaimed jazz performers will be offered during the day as well as performances at the Civic Auditorium during the evening.
The student bands are drawn from Middle School, High School and College levels and will have adjudicated feedback on their performance, while also having the opportunity to be individually selected for scholarship awards.
The new president of the Jazz festival is Mr. Dan Young. Mr. Young is the musical director and music department chair at Pajaro Valley High School and is a professional musician in his own right. He brings over 25 years experience in nonprofit organization to the Jazz Festival, having been the co-founder of the Surfrider Foundation, the Public Justice Foundation and the Santa Cruz Surfing Museum and having worked for several top environmental organizations and committees.
This year 64 big bands, 22 combos and 16 jazz vocal groups will play during the festival and Santa Cruz schools are well represented.
On Friday, March 30th, three Santa Cruz area high schools will present their vocal choirs on the second stage. The choirs are typically six to ten singers who perform both accapella and with the accompaniment of a small rhythm section (drums, bass and piano). They normally perform three to four songs ranging from standards (often with original arrangements) to modern jazz.
Mark Bidelman, the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival's Festival Director, leads the Soquel High School Jazz Singers in a pre-perfomance warm up exercise. (2004)
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Soquel High School will present their vocal performance at 11:30 am.
Teacher Mark Bidelman, a founding member of the jazz festival, has been on the Board of Directors since its inception.
At 1:00 pm Steve Wilson, another long established participant and Board member, brings the Harbor High vocal choir to the stage.
This will be followed later in the afternoon, at 2:30 pm, by a vocal choir from Aptos High School led by teacher Meri Pezzoni.
Soquel High School teacher, Jim Stewart, will present his big band at 1:00 pm on the main stage. The big band is comprised of roughly eighteen students and will perform a mixture of swing and modern jazz.
On Saturday, March 31st, Soquel High will again play on the second stage at 1:00 pm with a combo led by Jim Stewart. This will be followed at 4:40 pm by a combo from Harbor High led by Steve Wilson. The combo is normally comprised of four to nine pieces featuring rhythm and horns. They will play instrumental music ranging from standards, through Latin, to modern jazz.
Not only does the festival showcase the musicality of the participating bands and choirs, it also gives students an opportunity to develop other skills intrinsic to the running of such an event. This year over fifty students from Soquel High and Harbor High play a crucial logistical role: dealing with registration, working as stage and sound crew, and acting as guides for visiting groups.
The jazz festival currently operates without corporate sponsorship or grants and is solely reliant for funding on admission sales. $10 will buy a pass to both days of festival events. Check the web page for family/children admission.
The festival promises to be an exciting arts educational event that will give encouragement and inspiration to many Santa Cruz students and provide them with that most important of learning experiences: an opportunity to perform live in front of a large audience.
Festival details:
WHEN: March 30th/31st 2007
WHERE/TIME:
8:00 am to 5:00 pm at the U.C. Santa Cruz Music Center and Theater Arts Center
7:00 pm to 10:00 pm at the Santa Cruz Civic Auditorium
GUEST ARTIST:
Drummer Jeff Hamilton (Diana Krall Band) with the Cabrillo College Jazz Ensemble in concert 7:00 pm Friday, March 30, 2007 and introducing the California State University Sacramento Jazz Singers
COST:
$10 for access to all festival events at all festival locations
Aptos High School
Second Stage
2:30 pm 03/30/2007
Vocal/Pezzoni, Meri |
Harbor High School
Second Stage
4:40 pm 03/31/2007
Combo/Wilson, Steve |
Harbor High School
Second Stage
1:00 pm 03/30/2007
Vocal/Wilson, Steve |
Soquel High School
Second Stage
11:00 am 03/31/2007
Combo/Stewart, Jim |
Soquel High School
Mainstage
1:00 pm 03/30/2007
Band/Stewart, Jim |
Soquel High School
Second Stage
11:30 am 03/30/2007
Vocal/Bidelman, Mark |
For full details of the Jazz Festival see www.scjf.org
All photos courtesy of Santa Cruz Jazz Festival.
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