By Anthony Ta
Piedmont Hill’s Vocal Jazz Choir competed against some of California’s best choirs at the Santa Cruz Jazz Festival on March 17. The group left for Santa Cruz after first period with parent chaperones and came back to school near the end of sixth period.
In order to prepare for the festival, Vocal Jazz upped their ante and increased practices from once a week on Friday’s to a whole week.
The event lasted for the whole weekend and all groups performed throughout the festival. Having arrived at 9 am, Vocal Jazz began with an hour of lunch and had a chance to watch other jazz bands prepare for their set. They would then perform in front of the adjudicators for a rating. They performed solos for “Moondance” and ended the set with “Virtual Insanity.” After the performance, the group was met with a famous figure in the jazz world and was shown how to analyze and connect with the world of jazz in a much deeper sense than simply practicing and performing. The famous figure would essentially provide them a quickly mentorship program.
The group ended their day with a score of one 1 and two 2’s. These scores went into the national ranking for each individual in Vocal Jazz.
“I do hope that we learn from our mistakes from this year and improve and strive for a better score next year and also for the Reno Jazz Festival in April,” says Senior Mirelle Cabang.
Performances are nothing new to the Vocal Jazz Choir. Despite the fact that the group underperformed compared to previous years, they still remained confident in each other and continued to perform for not just the students at Piedmont Hills, but also for those across the West Coast.
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