39th Annual Bala Cynwyd Middle School Jazz Festival

39th Annual Bala Cynwyd Middle School Jazz Festival

Five jazz ensembles compete in the 39th Annual Bala Cynwyd Middle School Jazz Festival on March 23, 2012 from 7:00PM to 10:45PM. Participating musicians from Beverly Hills, Haverford, Ridley, Strath Haven, and Welsh Valley Middle Schools will perform a program of swing, Latin, rock, ballad, and other musical styles, in competition for trophies. Bala Cynwyd’s Junior and Senior Jazz Bands, and Welsh Valley’s Lab Band are also on the program, and the finale is by the award-winning Lower Merion High School Jazz Ensemble, which toured Italy last June, opening the La Spezia Jazz Festival and performing in towns throughout Tuscany. Thomas Sabatino, voice-over artist and Director of Vocal Music and Music Department Chair at Concord High School in Delaware, emcees the event.

Each competing group performs three pieces, to showcase its ensemble work and also feature individual soloists who demonstrate musical creativity and innovation through the jazz tradition of improvisation. Bands receive scores, ratings, and trophies at the end of the Festival. There’s an award for best section, and one student from each band wins a trophy for his or her solo performance. Music & Arts Centers sponsors two overall solo awards, presented to the Festival’s two top soloists of the evening.

Jazz Festival judges are professional musicians and educators whose evaluations help to develop the students’ musicianship. Judge Al Homicz is a composer, arranger, tenor saxophonist, and Director of Bands at Upper Merion Middle School. Judge William Seaton, III maintains a private percussion studio and is Director of Bands at Conestoga High School. Judge Groome Mears, III performs on and teaches trumpet, and is Chapter 9 Coordinator for Tournament of Bands competitions, and Jazz Ensemble Director for the American Music Abroad Tour of Europe.

Over nearly four decades, Bala Cynwyd Middle School Jazz Festival has provided a performance venue for middle school jazz musicians from Montgomery, Delaware, Chester, Philadelphia, and Bucks counties. It is one of the longest-running middle school jazz festivals in the Philadelphia area.

Jazz Festival tickets are $7.00 for adults, $5.00 for students and seniors, and $15.00 for a family. Doors open at 6:30PM for tickets and refreshments. Performances are from 7:00PM to 10:45PM in the Leonard G. Murphy Auditorium at Bala Cynwyd Middle School, 510 Bryn Mawr Avenue, Bala Cynwyd, PA 19004. For information, contact Ms. Jenny Neff, BCMS Music Department, at 610-645-1480.