hundreds of people will descend on Greenwood Community High School to get a taste of jazz this weekend.
Dozens of high school and middle school students will break out their instruments and show off what they have learned this year, playing for some people who have traveled out of state to hear them play.
The school’s music department is hosting the annual jazz dinner and silent auction, which is the largest fundraiser that is earmarked specifically for the jazz program. The evening is one of the few events where jazz students get to show off what they have learned throughout the school year, director of jazz bands Steve Fletcher said.
[sc:text-divider text-divider-title=”Story continues below gallery” ]
Jazz is one of the smallest music programs at Greenwood Community High School, but jazz students credit the genre for making them better musicians, and students learning jazz is a way for them to hearken back to history, Fletcher said.
The amount of students who enroll in jazz classes or play in a jazz ensemble is far eclipsed by students who march in the marching band or play in a concert band. About 22 high school students play in the jazz band, and another 41 students play jazz at the middle school. Hundreds annually join other bands, such as marching band, where a quarter to a third of the entire high school student body has marched in years past.
Jazz music is often harder, more individualized music, and for students who choose to study jazz, studying the genre has made them better musicians, students said.
“Jazz band is the band that has made me grow more as a musician,” junior Alisen Glidden said.
The music jazz musicians often learn to play is geared toward helping people grow as individuals, students said.
The concentration on individuals that jazz music requires has also built self confidence in musicians who have studied jazz, senior Karina Weddle said.
“I like it because it has challenged me and it has built my confidence a lot more,” she said.
Greenwood Community High School is fortunate to offer a jazz program that allows students to study the genre during the school day, Fletcher said.
Learning about jazz is a history lesson for students. Jazz is one of the few musical genres that was founded and developed in the United States and is an important part of the musical landscape, he said.
Besides learning the music, students will do musician profiles, which will teach students about the roots of jazz, Fletcher said.
“It’s flat out history,” Fletcher said.
The program needs fundraisers like the dinner to keep on going.
Sheet music for jazz music is more expensive than sheet music in other genres, which is what most of the money from the annual evening of jazz goes toward, Fletcher said.
Each jazz music chart can run $50 to $55 and the school will buy eight or nine charts of each music, he said.
“It gets pretty expensive. The fundraiser helps refurbish that and put the money back in the account so we can do it year after year,” Fletcher said.
Jazz students also do not get the exposure other bands get. The dinner also works as an end of the year wrap-up for students to show what they have learned, Fletcher said.
Jazz ensembles are often booked a lot over the holidays, as local groups enjoy hiring jazz ensembles to play at their holiday parties. Other than that, the jazz band does not have a lot of other chances to perform, he said.
“If we don’t keep it alive, who will?” Fletcher said.
