The Chardon High School Jazz Band, under the direction of Melissa Lichtler, will be traveling March 18 to perform at the 44th annual Lakeland Community…
The Chardon High School Jazz Band, under the direction of Melissa Lichtler, will be traveling March 18 to perform at the 44th annual Lakeland Community College Jazz Festival.
Offering more than just an opportunity to perform, the three-day festival gives students a chance to learn from some of the area’s top music education professionals.
Over its 44-year history, more than 25,000 area middle and high school students have performed in the musical event that combines education with performance over a weekend of lively jazz music.
Other performances throughout the weekend include the Big Band Matinee on Sunday afternoon, featuring the Lakeland Civic Jazz Orchestra and the Youngstown State University Jazz Ensemble, and the Tony Monaco Trio Friday night.
This year’s headlining performance will take place on Saturday night with a performance by Grammy Award-winning jazz artist Kenny Garrett. He has played with the Duke Ellington Orchestra, Chick Corea, Herbie Hancock and Miles Davis, and is considered the premier alto saxophonist of this generation.
On Friday evening, Garrett will hold a free clinic for developing and professional musicians to share his knowledge and expertise of jazz.
But the big draw for many attendees is the “Serving the Schools” portion of the program, which runs both Friday and Saturday mornings and features performances by local school jazz ensembles.
The school bands are then given hands-on sessions with music experts from local universities, such as Dr. Kent Engelhardt, Ph.D. He is the director of the Youngstown State University Jazz Ensemble and coordinator of jazz studies at the university’s Dana School of Music.
Chardon junior Morgan Piecuch is looking forward to Friday.
“I am stoked,” Piecuch said. “I’d like to hear a bunch of other bands perform, that will be nice.”
Piecuch and her fellow members of the CHS Jazz Band have been attending twice weekly practices after school throughout the school year, but she doesn’t mind the extra work.
“I have a blast. I have so much fun playing jazz music,” Piecuch said. “More than any other (school) band, I enjoy jazz the most. I really enjoy the slow ballads.”
Natasha Paros-Gaser, also on the also sax, admitted practices can be tricky when they run during the musical.
“I’m also in the ensemble,” Paros-Gaser said, but her friends were in jazz band and after trying it out. “It actually turned out to be a lot of fun. It made me appreciate jazz more, and now I actually listen to jazz music outside of school.”
The festival runs from March 18-20. High school performances and the Kenny Garrett clinic are free and open to the
public, other performances require ticket purchase.
For more information, visit online at lakelandcc.edu/jazzfestival.
