BOSTON — It’s the biggest high school jazz festival in the country. Among those heading down to Boston today to attend the Berklee College of Music’s 44th annual High School Jazz Festival will be students from Biddeford High School, Old Orchard Beach High School and Thornton Academy.
The festival was started in 1969 by former Berklee President Lee Eliot Berk, with 21 participating bands from New England and New York, according to information from the festival’s website.
This year, more than 3,000 students and 200 bands and vocal ensembles from 13 states and Ontario, Canada will be competing for $175,000 in scholarships to Berklee’s five-week summer performance program, according to a statement from the school.
Ensembles compete in different categories based on school size and are judged on a variety of aspects of their performance, including intonation, timing, articulation, balance/blend, and presentation, said Jennifer DeCicco, associate director of special events for Berklee Performance Center, in an email.
Traveling to Boston to participate in the festival is a good experience for the students, said local band directors.
Old Orchard Beach High School Music Director Mark Manduca said the students love to play in the festival and are “fired up” to go to Boston.
“The students have been preparing for months for this big event and are very excited about their performance,” said Jennifer Witherell-Stebbins, director of bands at Thornton Academy.
Patrick Bolin, Biddeford High School band director, said performing for the adjudicators, who are nationally know professionals, and hearing their feedback is “very exciting and encouraging” for students.
“We will work hard to apply their comments to our pieces this year and future years,” said Bolin.
The festival is held at Hynes Convention Center and is scheduled to run from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m., with an awards ceremony at 6 p.m. Big bands, combos and vocal jazz ensembles will compete all day. Participants will be judged by a panel of Berklee’s top faculty and receive a written critique of their performance.
The day will also include open jam sessions, clinics, tours of the Berklee campus and performances by Berklee faculty.
According to information on the festival website, each ensemble is allowed 18 minutes on stage, and exceeding the limit will result in disqualification. Ensembles are allowed 25 minutes to set up and warm up prior to their scheduled performance.
Saxophone player and Old Orchard Beach High School senior Ian Bock said it’s cool to meet other musicians the same age from all over the country and beyond. He said the feedback from the judges at Berklee is more personalized and detailed than other competitions and is very helpful for improving your performance in the future.
And, said Bock, it’s good preparation for the state-wide Maine Music Educators Association High School Instrumental Jazz Festival, which will be held the following weekend.
Pianist and Biddeford High School junior Katie Delcourt said going to the festival “makes you want to get better,” and she likes the professional atmosphere.
“The prize isn’t the main goal,” said Delcourt.
Although the students and schools have made the trip before, students and faculty agree that the experience is exciting and beneficial.
Biddeford High School junior and guitar player Adam Legassie said he also enjoyed the professional atmosphere in a previous visit. He also likes meeting other students from around the country, not just the same people typically seen at competitions held in Maine.
“There’s just so much going on,” he said. “There are some great people there.”
Zach Gagnon, a drummer and senior at Old Orchard Beach High School, said the competition aspect is not the main focus for him.
“I go just to enjoy and experience what’s out there,” he said.
Thornton Academy seniors and trumpet players Cain Landry and Tyler Plummer had similar sentiments.
“For me, it’s not really how we play against other schools and match up against them,” said Landry. “It’s really more of a learning experience.”
Plummer said participants come out of the festival knowing more than they did before the competition, and participating in the festival improves their playing skills.
— Staff Writer Liz Gotthelf can be contacted at 282-1535, Ext. 325 or egotthelf@journaltribune.com.
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