School for the Arts one of 2 Florida schools, 15 nationally part of Lincoln Center festival
Some of the best young jazz performers come from, or are taught and cultivated, right here in Osceola County.
The Osceola County School for the Arts Jazz A ensemble proved that again this week at the 29th annual Essentially Ellington Jazz Band Competition at New York’s famed Lincoln Center.
In a competition of the nation’s 15 top high school jazz bands, OCSA placed second behind Newark (N.J.) Academy. In qualifying for the third year in a row — an accomplishment of itself — OCSA earned its third top-three finish, and an award of $2,500.
“This is truly life-changing,” Director Jason Anderson said at Saturday’s awards ceremony. “The students really worked hard this year … you started in a totally different place than you ended.”
Sections of the band earned top honors as OCSA took home the Outstanding Rhythm Section and Outstanding Brass Section awards. Individually, Matthew Black and Sonialynn Jackson were selected for Outstanding Drums, Solomon Geleta for Outstanding Alto Saxophone and Danial Browne for Outstanding Trombone
The Snookie Young Award, named or the renowned trumpeter who pioneered use of the plunger mute and given for just the second time, went to OCSA’s Xavier Anderson.
And Justin Anderson brought home hardware himself; he was named as Outstanding Director.
Of the 15 bands that performed, OCSA was one of only two from Florida. This was a special year at the festival, which celebrated Duke Ellington’s 125th birthday. Students engaged in a Q&A with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra during an open rehearsal, attended section-specific masterclasses and jam sessions with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra members and took in a celebratory dinner. Eight never-before-available scores of Ellington’s music, each representing a different decade of his career (1920s-70s), were debuted, and the bands had the option to play them as part of their submission. The weekend culminated in a Saturday night concert and awards ceremony on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s iconic Rose Theater stage where each top-placing band performed with its choice of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member as a featured soloist.
