Seniors Represent At District Jazz Band
April 24, 2015
Bright and early on Friday, April 10, band director Chris Poole prepared to take seniors Sean Slattery and Greg Stewart to a weekend long event for district jazz band.
Each year, students from all districts of Pennsylvania try out to be a part of the district Jazz band. Only the best of the best are chosen to perform, and when the time comes, students are given the opportunity to spend a weekend playing with an elite group of musicians to enhance their skills and learn new musical techniques. There are three bands involved in district band: the A band, B band and the vocal band. At the end of the festival, all three bands come together and put on a concert to utilize their new skills and show what they have learned.
Slattery and Stewart were chosen to represent Susquehannock High School at district jazz band this year, which was held at Central Dauphin in Harrisburg. Slattery was part of the vocal band while Stewart was part of the A band. The students left for the festival at around 6:45 a.m. on Friday morning and arrived back at the school around 4:00 p.m. on Saturday.
Senior Sean Slattery tried out on drum set and enjoyed the opportunities and benefits that being in district band has to offer; he would highly recommend it to others.
“It’s an experience to get out and play more as well as to get out and play with some people that I don’t usually play with,” said Slattery. “It’s a really cool playing experience. It’s for people who have worked hard to get a little bit of recognition, which can be nice.”
This has been Slattery’s fourth consecutive year in district jazz band, and he views the festival as a good resume builder that will help him in furthering his career in music.
Senior Greg Stewart tried out on electric bass and enjoys being a part of the festival because he has enjoyed it in the past and has a passion for jazz music. Stewart has also participated in district jazz band for four years and believes it has greatly improved his playing.
“I enjoyed it before. I like jazz a lot, and I like playing bass,” said Stewart. “The best way to learn how to play better is to play with other people, especially if they’re better than you.”
Stewart has greatly enjoyed district jazz band over his high school years and would readily participate in it again if he had the chance.
Poole believes that district jazz band is a great opportunity for all students and helps improve many aspects of their playing.
“It’s really a great opportunity to work with some clinicians that are usually really big in the field of jazz education, so that is a great experience,” said Poole. “Working together with students you haven’t played with before just raises your performance level, motivates you to get better, play more, and I think it’s just a really great opportunity overall to play more challenging music as well.”
Poole believes district band is great for helping musicians improve their skills in playing in a large ensemble setting, listening, and improvisation.
Tryouts for district jazz take place in December each year and are open to any student who is involved in the music department.
