South Windsor High's Jazz Band Places 5th at Berklee High Festival

By LuAnne Porcello

Last Saturday, March 2, the South Windsor High School’s auditioned Wednesday Night Jazz Band placed 5th out of 16 schools in the Large High School Division at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival in Boston, MA.  

This jazz band, affectionately known as Wednesday Night Jazz, competed among 110 large division high school bands  and among 70 jazz combos from across the country, some as far away as California,Texas, Colorado and Illinois.

Berklee Jazz High School Festival is one of the largest jazz competitions nationally.  

The band’s set consisted of Airegin composed by Sonny Rollins and arranged by Bill Holman, Afternoon composed by Pat Metheny and arranged by Bob Curnow, and they closed out their performance with La Quema Del Diablo (the Burning of the Devil) by Victor Lopez. Wed night Jazz is directed by Timothy Edwards Middle School Music teacher, Tom Savage.  

Savage, stated “this band only meets as an ensemble once a week, their performance and 5th place ranking among 16 schools is quite an accomplishment and huge step for the growth of this group.”

In addition to their 5th place ranking, there were two Judge’s Awards awarded to band musicians: Will Weil and Tim Mrugala. Will Weil, a sophomore drummer won a Judge’s Award for the Jazz Band’s Combo, and Tim Mrugala, a Senior Trumpet player, was awarded a Judge’s Award in the band’s ensemble.

The Wednesday Night Jazz Band along with the Bobcat Jazz Band, Timothy Edwards Middle School’s grade level jazz bands, and the South Windsor Faculty Jazz Band will perform on Wednesday night, April 10th at TEMS for the All-District Jazz Festival.  Tickets are available after March 15th on the TEMS website under the music department.