On March 1, nine Cornwall Middle and High School students participated in the Orange County Music Educators Association Jazz Festival hosted by Tuxedo High School. They were among the 40 students selected by a panel of judges after an audition in September.

The festival itself was composed of three groups - a Vocal Jazz Ensemble, a Junior High Jazz Ensemble, and a Senior Jazz Ensemble. Cornwall had no vocalists qualify for the concert, but the district’s representation made up one-sixth of the total junior participants and tied with Goshen for the most participants in the 20-person senior ensemble.

Among the Junior High School Jazz Ensemble participants were Nicholas Puzak (trumpet), Benjamin Huang (trombone), and Luke Alarcon (trombone). Yani Daskalis (alto sax), Kristian Greene (tenor sax), Hudson Alarcon (trumpet), Hunter Olsen (trombone), Joshua Hoerup (guitar), and Christian Moyik (drums) made up the Cornwall contingent of the High School Jazz Ensemble.

High school band teacher Jake Hoover explained auditions were held in September. Students are given an excerpt which they have to prepare along with scales, improvisation, and site reading. They performed before a panel and were judged on the preparation and execution of that solo. They’re informed a couple weeks later if they qualified for the ensemble.

How many students tried out is unknown because it varied from instrument to instrument. For example, only two alto, two, tenor, and one baritone saxophone player were selected, but 40 to 50 students could have applied for those five positions. Whereas, for the five trumpet or trombone seats, a dozen students could have auditioned.

Hoover added each part is individualized. Each student plays their own instrument and their own part within the actual pieces.

Following the audition, sheet music is passed out to the students who were selected. They have a few weeks to prepare each piece before a pre-rehearsal where they meet all the other students in the ensembles and run through the music to figure out what needs to be worked on for the actual festival. The festival itself ran from 4 to 8 p.m. on Feb. 28 and 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. on March 1 with the concert starting at 2 p.m. The students rehearse with a guest conductor who is an expert in the field, usually an esteemed individual or college professor. Hoover also worked with the students ahead of the pre-rehearsal.

Students in the Junior Jazz Ensemble learned five pieces including: “Groovin’ Heart” by Don Menza and arranged by Dave Barduhn, “Brazil” by Ary Barroso and arranged by Rick Stitzel, “Here’s the Rainy Day” by Johnny Burke and James Van Heusen and arranged by John Edmondson, “Crablegs” by Jay Chattaway, and “Watermelon Man” by Herbie Hancock and arranged by Mike Kamuf.

The High School Jazz Ensemble performed: “So What” by Miles Davis and arranged by Russell Scarbrough, “The Elder” by Thad Jones and arranged by Russell Scarbrough, “To You” by Thad Jones, and “Things Ain’t What They Used to Be” by Mercer Ellington and Ted Persons and arranged by Dave LaLama.

Hoover said he was quite impressed by the concert.

“The students were given challenging pieces of music, professional level music. I was impressed by how they could take notes on a page and make it into this organic art form on the stage. All nine students had featured solos and Daskalis is a freshman who earned the opportunity to play with juniors and seniors.

“He’s farther ahead of his peers skill wise,” Hoover said. “He’s a dedicated musician who put a lot of work into it and saw a really good outcome. For any student to make it into this ensemble is really difficult. We attribute a lot of our students’ success to their hard work and dedication, but Cornwall is one of the few schools in the county that offers Jazz Band as a class in the scheduled school day. Our students have the benefit of meeting nearly every day to work on their craft and it shows in our results and participation in these festivals.”