Leominster High jazz band will toot their own horns at Berklee College competition

LEOMINSTER -- Sound the trumpets! Leominster High School's jazz band is scheduled to compete in Berklee College of Music's 44th High School Jazz Festival on March 10.


The school has been moving up the charts the last couple of years, said Band Director Barry Hudson.


It finished 16th out of 32 bands in its size class three years ago.
"Last year we were seventh out of 43, I think, so our big band is getting better and our program is improving," Hudson said.


He is taking a big band and two ensemble groups to the competition.
The school's big band plays swing music.


"The things people got up to dance to in the '40s, '50s and '60s. It's good for our kids to learn that music. It's something that should never be forgotten."
Its combo groups are playing progressive jazz.


The school is giving out $175,000 worth of scholarships to its Five-Week Summer Performance Program to winners.


The real value will come from exposing the students to other musicians from around the country, Hudson said.


The student musicians are practicing, working and honing their skills for an experience that will last a lifetime.


"They know what they are working for and toward; other kids throughout the country are doing the same thing," Hudson said.


Bands from as far away as San Francisco and Sarasota, Fla., are scheduled to compete, said Jen DeCicco, the festival's director of operations.


Leominster's musicians won't get class creditfor performing but will get to measure themselves against other students.


The bands are competing in large and small ensembles as well as vocalist categories, DeCicco said.


The categories are broken down into classes so that bands compete against schools of similar size.


Most of the judges are Berklee faculty members.


After each band performs, one of four judges critiquing the performance will meet with the players to discuss their work, DeCicco said.


"It's to let the students in the band take advantage of the fact Berklee faculty are standing right in front of them," she said. "Basically, it's an attempt to give them something to walk away with."
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