Jazz Bands Attend UNO Jazz Festival
Launch the media gallery 1 playerBy Haley Scholting
On February 27, the Bluejay jazz band took a trip to Omaha to participate in the University of Nebraska at Omaha (UNO) Jazz Festival. For Pierce, all of the jazz band members, plus a few future jazz band members, attended.
“I am very excited to perform and showcase all the progress we have made. We are ready for comments to better our show for later contests, and we hope that our show goes well,” junior percussionist, Lauren Delka, stated before the festival.
After talking to band director Michael Sindt, he was able to give a brief explanation of what this festival really is. He explains that the jazz band performs and gets a rating on how well they perform. He goes on by saying a clinician–an expert guest conductor, educator, or musician hired to work with a band, orchestra, or ensemble to improve their performance, technique, and musicality–will work with the band to improve their performance. Sindt prefaces that one of the main reasons they like to go is because of all the performances given. One of these includes a concert at noon by the UNO jazz band.
Besides just performing, there was also a guest artist at the festival. This year’s guest was Aubrey Logan, an American pop and jazz singer, as well as a trombone soloist. At the end of the day, all the judges and clinicians from around the U.S., including Logan, made a band and performed all together.
Some top performers at the festival were junior Spencer Sindt and senior Mya Johnson, who were recognized as two of nine outstanding soloists of nearly 800 students.
“I enjoyed the festival because of the concerts and clinics! My favorite part of the day was definitely seeing Aubrey Logan’s performance,” Aubrie Zimmerman, a saxophonist, says.
Overall the band got an excellent rating with only one point away from a superior.
