The St. Louis High School jazz band traveled to attend Central Michigan University annual Jazz festival Feb. 7, 2025.
The Jazz Festival is an event that is held every year. Different schools come to participate in this event every year with one of them being SLHS. When the band arrived at CMU, they were given a room to rehearse in. The songs they played this year for the jazz festival were, “Hip Monk Funk,” “Soul Chicken,” and “Two Down Territory”. Once the band was done rehearsing, they took their instruments into another room where there were a few people and parents in the audience and three judges in the back.
“I think the band performed amazingly at the jazz festival this year. I’m really proud of my band and how we did,” stated Mr. Lawhorne, the band director of SLHS. Despite the pride of most of the students, Elliot Carter brought up his nervousness about the event.
“At first I genuinely felt like we were not ready, but as soon as we got out of the rehearsal room and into the performance room I was less nervous. I feel like we played well this year even with a little bit of mistakes,” Carter stated.
Though there was a little bit of nervousness, it was overpowered by the band’s spirit and excitement for just being here. After performing, the students got to enjoy other bands playing at CMU.
“I was in awe watching the other bands. They were amazing. I was so stunned and was so amazed by how good they were. It made me feel a tiny bit of jealousy, to be honest,” said Hayden Mader.
Skylar DuBois-Kleinhans added, “Watching the other bands felt incredible. I mean, listening to new music and everything they do is amazing! I enjoyed talking to my friends about what would happen if we played their songs.”
This was a wonderful experience for the SLHS jazz band. A select few from the high school band will attend Solo and Ensembles, Sat. 8, 2025. The band is looking forward to showcasing their talent and continuing their tradition of excellence.
