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 Newbury Park High School will be hosting its 2nd Annual Jazz Festival on Saturday, March 20, 2010 at 9:00 a.m. The Jazz Festival is a regional competition for school bands who come from all over the southland to compete in various divisions, including Jazz Combo, middle school and high school, at different skill levels - novice, intermediate, advanced and heavy. Top prize is a one-week scholarship awarded to the Idyllwild Jazz Workshop Summer Camp for best middle school and high school soloists. This year NPHS will be featuring not just one, but two Jazz Bands in the competition.
We have managed to secure some of the best adjudicators and clinicians from all over southern California to come to Newbury Park for a full day of performances, concerts, clinics and free workshops all geared to inspire and educate your students as they grow musically. We have two venues for MS and HS Big Bands, including a state-of-the-art, 400-seat, Performing Arts Center featuring a professional sound system.
Event Highlights
We will have competitive divisions for MS and HS Big Bands and Combos. The judging panels will include: Jeff Jarvis (CSULB and Kendor Publishing), David Roitstein (CalArts), Jeff Tower (Hemet High School), MJ Wamhoff (Delta College and CAJ President), and Jim Mooy (Santa Barbara City College); all distinguished jazz performers and educators. Of course, all groups can choose not to compete if they wish and just receive comments and a rating. Combos will each have 45 minutes in their performance room to play for our adjudicator and receive a clinic.
Free hourly workshops will be provided for the directors and their students throughout the day addressing all areas of jazz performance, instrument master classes and improvisation. Clinicians will include: Mitch Holder (Basic Comping and Chord Voicing for Guitar), Matt Finders (Trombone & Improvisation), Chuck Findley (Lead Trumpet Masterclass), Joe La Barbera with Tom Warrington and Larry Knoose (Rhythm Section Masterclass), Matt Harris (Jazz Comping and Chord Voicing for Piano), and a special Latin Jazz Percussion workshop with Brian Kilgore, MB Gordy, and Aaron Serfaty. Your students will have intimate access to some of the best jazz educators available in this area.
There will be two fabulous concerts during the day. The Tom Warrington Trio will be performing before lunch and a rhythm section Masterclass will follow with Tom, Joe La Barbera and Larry Knoose. And then the California State University Long Beach Concert Jazz Orchestra will be performing before the awards ceremony. (You never know what surprise artists may show up to play with the band.) Both concerts are sure to get your students fired up about music and playing their horns. Last year's Jazz Festival featured the CSULB Concert Jazz Orchestra with guest performer Chuck Findley.
Jeff Tower and the Idyllwild Arts Summer Jazz Workshop have very graciously donated two, one-week scholarships to the Outstanding Middle School and Outstanding High School Soloists for their 2010 camp.
There is more in the works to make this a great day (on-site vendors, great concessions) and we couldn’t be more excited about it. We hope that you will consider joining us by completing an application and returning it by March 1, 2010! If you have any questions at all, please call us at (805) 498-3676 or send an email to Dennis Crystal, Director of Bands, NPHS.
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