Every year, both jazz bands travel to Kelowna B.C. to attend the B.C. Interior Jazz Festival. This festival brings bands in from all parts of B.C., and this year a band came all the way from Edmonton. The goal of the festival is for our jazz bands to be adjudicated to allow different and professional insights into their performances.
The bands were excited to highlight all of the work that they had done since their last performance together in the Winter Concert. The Junior jazz band was presenting a brand new set of three songs and the senior jazz band was playing two new pieces.
April 19th (Day 1): The bands gathered in the Lower Music Room promptly at 9:50 am filled with excitement before heading off to get on the bus to Kelowna. This day was to be filled with long hours of driving before arriving in Kelowna. Once the bands arrived in Kelowna, they quickly settled into their rooms in the hotel. Following this, they were taken to the Kelowna Community Theatre where they would be performing the following day. Once they arrived they found their seats in preparation to watch the Brad Turner Showcase concert.
This concert showcased many talented jazz musicians from in and around B.C. The boys were treated to an amazing listening experience with the wonderful Brad Turner, playing in both his own jazz combo as well as joining the B.C. Interior Big Band. The highlight of the night was when the Big Band played Moanin’, a jazz standard by Charles Mingus. This song made Justin Applegarth ‘24 feel a rush of joy as he explained it was one of his “favourite songs”.
Overall this day was filled with inspiration for the following day when both bands would perform on the same stage at the Kelowna Community Theatre.
April 20th (Day 2): Performance day! This day was filled with excitement for both bands. They started the day at the hotel before heading off to the theatre to prepare for their performances. The Junior Jazz band was performing first at 10:45 and the seniors stayed to watch and support them.
At 1:45 pm, the Senior Jazz Band prepared to take the stage. Although the stakes were high and stress levels were up, the band played flawlessly. Following the performances each band received adjudication and a workshop from one of the adjudicators. Toby Mar ‘25 received many acknowledgements from other band directors saying that his performance of the ballad ‘Round Midnight, gave them “goosebumps”, and was very “emotional”. The bands were waiting with anticipation to hear the news as to whether or not they would make the final showcase concert
Following the performance the boys were released for dinner. And then shortly after they received the news! The Senior Jazz Band was selected for the showcase concert, and they were also selected to be the last to perform. This is significant because it means that they were the strongest band in the whole festival.
The band opted to play their strongest song: ‘Round Midnight. Once again, the stakes were high, and the band performed outstandingly. This song choice in particular was risky as most songs chosen for the showcase are upbeat and exciting, while this song is an emotional ballad. Through this choice, the crowd was silenced until the final beat, where they erupted with applause.
Following this performance, the bands went home with smiles on their faces, proud of the experiences that they had at the B.C. Interior Jazz Festival.
These experiences are incredibly valuable to the bands, hopefully, these opportunities continue to present themselves in the future. The Jazz bands have one more concert coming up on May 24th with the Wind Ensemble, and they hope to use the knowledge that they gained from this experience to allow them to finish the year in stride!
