The Fair Grove High School Jazz Band hosted Evening of Jazz on March 28th and 29th. Evening of Jazz showcases choir and the Jazz Band’s talents.
The band director, Natalie Palomo, stated that they have been working to prepare for the concert since November. They would rehearse once or twice a week putting more work into their performance pieces.
Jesse Elliston (11) a member of the Fair Grove Jazz band said, “To prepare for the show, I would spend every Tuesday and Thursday practicing with the band after school for weeks. On Tuesdays, . . . I would go out and do my thing on the keys.”
Another member of the Fair Grove Jazz Band, Lee Van Cleave (11), stated that they spent months working on the songs for multiple hours a week. They would spend two hours every Tuesday and Thursday working on their music.
Audra Harmon, the choir director, said, “We rehearsed every day in choir to prepare for this event. There were a few songs that we started before Christmas break, but we mostly started when we came back from Christmas break.”
There were many challenges that they had to work around to make sure that they were able to get everything ready to perform. Palomo said, “I guess the biggest difficulty is working around everyone’s crazy busy schedules with sports, jobs, and school work. Thankfully the kids are pretty great about staying on top of things and practicing on their own to make up for whatever they need to miss!”
Harmon stated that it was difficult to work around the snow days. The missed school days made them feel like they were constantly running out of time to get everything prepared. She continued that the kids did an amazing job staying on top of things in class and always being prepared.
There was always a fun part of preparing all of these different pieces to perform them on stage for people. Palomo said, “It’s always fun at rehearsals, and the event itself is so exciting and at such a high level. I love getting to hear the kids rehearse across all levels-hearing some kids play jazz for the first time and seeing how far they come, and seeing my more experienced players shine in solos or tough pieces.”
