Middle and high schoolers part of selective group
The top middle and high school jazz musicians in Orange County earned the opportunity to perform before a crowd at Goshen High School on Feb. 10. Among those were eight Cornwall students.
“I attended the entire festival,” said high school music teacher Jake Hoover. “The students worked really hard and prepared some really advanced music. They performed at a very high and mature level with an acute understanding of what they were playing and why they were playing it.”
Auditions to try out for the All-County Jazz Festival took place on Nov. 28. Students had to prepare a solo piece including specific scales related to Jazz music and an improvisation. Both were performed before a judge who selected the top musicians in the county.
What’s different about the Jazz program, Hoover said, is fewer instruments are chosen for the ensemble unlike the junior and senior all-county ensembles, so it’s highly selective and more difficult to make the final cut.
A total of 18 students were selected for the senior ensemble and 17 for the junior ensemble.
Four middle school students and three high school students from Cornwall made up the ensembles while one was chosen to perform as part of the vocal ensemble. Out of the eight students, Hoover said six were chosen to perform improvisation solos.
About three weeks prior to the performance, students received four pieces to learn. Hoover helped the students prepare for the rehearsals and the actual performance by listening to each piece and then practicing one-on-one. On Feb. 9 and 10, students from across the county gathered as ensembles to rehearse before the concert that Saturday.
Of particular note, Hoover said a Cornwall student has claimed the lead trumpet seat for the past six years. Garcia Warren has claimed the highest level trumpet position the last three years. Prior to that, Zachary Hommel claimed the chair.
The following students were chosen for the Jazz ensembles:
Junior high – Yani Daskalis (alto saxophone), Christian Moyik (drum set), Ben Huang (trombone), and Hudson Alarcon (trumpet)
High School – Hunter Olsen (trombone), Kristian Greene (tenor saxophone), Emerson Barth (vocal Jazz ensemble), and Garcia Warren (trumpet).
