Jazz

List of 3 items.

• Junior Jazz Ensemble

  Junior Jazz Ensemble is an opportunity for proficient and interested students to learn to play jazz in a big band setting— it is open by audition only. Auditions for interested students will occur during the first few weeks of school.  All students wanting to audition must download the audition materials from the Music Department website. This course is designed to give students the experience and skills of playing in a Big Band. Students will undertake a journey exploring the history and repertoire of the major eras of jazz, including learning basic improvisation techniques. As an introductory course, a lot of effort will be devoted to internalizing the “feel” and “concept” of swing through rehearsals, performances, and listening to many exemplary recordings.

• Senior Jazz Ensemble

  The Senior Jazz Ensemble is a performance-based group of musicians with an interest and experience in playing all kinds of jazz. Interested students should have at least one year experience playing jazz and must be current members of the Concert Band at their grade level - enrolment is through audition only. The focus of the ensemble is in learning jazz style, tradition, and improvisation, with a focus on listening to discover the cultural context of the music performed.

• Jazz Combo

  Students interested in exploring jazz and improvisation further are encouraged to audition for the Junior Jazz Combo. This small group is primarily student-led and rehearses outside of the regular timetable. Students learn to read from “fake” books and to create arrangements of jazz standards to perform. Junior Jazz Combo is open to any students in the Junior or Senior Jazz Ensemble.