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The Niceville High School “Big Band” attended the State Jazz Band MPA (Music Performance Assessment) last Saturday at Leon High School in Tallahassee, where they were awarded “straight superiors” for their outstanding performance.
“It’s not lost on me how difficult it is to achieve Superior rating status in any of the fine arts assessments,” said Niceville High School Principal Charlie Morello, “The fact that our musicians continue to do so year in and year out is just another indication of the standard of excellence here at NHS.”
This is the first time Niceville has attended State Jazz MPA in 27 years, since the 1997-98 school year. According to director Matt Tenoré, “I’m always looking for worthwhile experiences for our kids, and our schedule lined up well this year to be able to attend. State MPA is an optional assessment, and since we weren’t taking a major trip this spring, I felt that it would be worth it to have the kids experience the event and receive the feedback from a panel of experts at the state level this year.”
The 19-person ensemble performed three charts, “Count Bubba” by Gordon Goodwin, “I’ve Got You Under My Skin” by Frank Sinatra, and “I Snore, You Drive!” by Victor Lopez. Their set was highlighted by solo performances from multiple students including Andrew Roberts on trombone, Wyatt Cole on trumpet, and Anderson Shell on saxophone. Junior Jackson Olsen added a unique flair to this year’s program by singing on Sinatra’s “I’ve Got You Under My Skin”, making the piece a definite crowd pleaser as most high school jazz bands don’t include a vocalist.
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Big Band’s performance at MPA continues Niceville’s streak of “superior“ performances which started with the Eagle Pride at Marching Band MPA in October, continued with Big Band and “Jazz Too“ at district Jazz MPA in February, as well as the Symphonic Winds and Wind Symphony concert bands at Concert MPA earlier this month. Wind Symphony will look to add a final “superior“ when they perform at State Concert MPA later this month.
Big Band and Jazz Too will perform at their annual Jazz Dinner at Crosspoint on Friday, April 12th, featuring guest clinician Andrew Distel, a jazz vocalist and trumpet player from the Chicago area. Limited tickets are still available for this event on GoFan.
Niceville’s three concert bands will also perform their Spring Concert on Thursday, April 17th, at 6:00 pm at Mattie Kelly Arts Center. The concert is free and open to the public.
Mid Bay News Contributor Steven Milz contributed this report. If you would like to contribute a story, contact news@midbaynews.com.
