After spending many years attending jazz competitions at Sam Houston State University, directors decided that the band members needed a change, choosing to attend the University of Texas at Arlington, which hosts a Jazz Festival every year. This was a new opportunity for many students, giving them a chance to better their skills in a different environment.
“I liked that we got to see new schools perform, since the competitions we normally go to at SHSU are the same competitions that we always go to, so we basically know who to expect over there,” junior Adalyn Thomas said. “But at UTA, there were new schools that we didn’t know as well, such as how they would perform and we actually had some new competition to go against.”
Both bands gave it their all during each of their performances to the judges, receiving similar comments and compliments during their clinicians.
“I thought I personally did really well during both of my performances with AM and PM, and overall I think everyone else played with a lot of passion throughout all of their pieces,” senior Maya Warren said. “Overall it was a good experience to perform at UTA for the first time and just getting to hang out with everyone was a lot of fun.”
After their performances, students were given the opportunity to see professional jazz musicians show off their skills as a reward for their hard work the previous day.
“I really enjoyed seeing my heroes performing for everyone during the ceremony, like Wayne Bergeron, Steve Wiest, Denis Diblasio, Frank Greene, Brian Mulholland, and Stockton Helbing,” junior Mason Walls said. “Just getting to see them in person and how they can just absolutely fill the room with so much excitement and seeing how everyone was just so amazed by their performance was a cool experience.”
After the concert concluded, students were invited to attend the awards ceremony. The AM band won first place in the 6A-II category, and the PM band won first place in the 6A category. To bring awareness to talented individual performers, senior Nicholas Thompson was awarded with the Outstanding Rhythm Performer award.
“When I heard my name get called out for Outstanding Rhythm Performer I was beyond surprised and thankful that I got the award,” Thompson said.
In the end, both bands won sweepstakes for the first time at the University of Texas at Arlington Jazz Festival,, having done exceptionally well within the new, competitive environment that they faced.
