Osceola's ensemble finishes 3rd in international competition, earns individual awards — and a spotlight on The Today Show
It was another whirlwind tour of New York for the Osceola County School for the Arts’ jazz ensemble band.
Proving that some of the best young jazz performers come from, or are taught and cultivated, right here in Osceola County, the band took third place at the 30th annual Essentially Ellington Jazz Band Competition at New York’s famed Metropolitan Opera House.
After qualifying for the famed competition for the fourth year in a row — made tougher this year as international bands were included OCSA made it through the initial round of 30, followed by the round of 10, and earned a spot in the finals, like last year.
In that field, OCSA finished behind the Sant Andreu Jazz Band of Barcelona, Spain and Memphis (Tenn.) Central High School, two places known for musical style.
Sections of the OCSA band earned top honors. It took home the Outstanding Trumpet Section award, Kiara Rouse and Paolo Zulueta-Lomanno earned Outstanding Tenor and Alto Saxophone, and Luis Fernandez Guzman earned Honorable Mention Clarinet.
Guzman helped put OCSA on the national stage Friday, appearing on NBC’s Today Show. He noted how he began playing piano at age 6, auditioned on that to get into OCSA, and now is nearly his own orchestra, playing clarinet, saxophone, trumpet and stand-up cello — all while overcoming autism.
“I think of Prince, and all the instruments he’s played. That’s the kind of talent Luis has,” said OCSA Principal Dennis Neal said.
Noted OCSA Jazz Band Director Jason Anderson: “It’s important as a society to challenge ourselves. These kids push themselves to be the best they can be.”
“In the first years of Essentially Ellington, we at Jazz at Lincoln Center were insisting on the integrity of the playing,” said Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center Managing and Artistic Director. “Since then, so many great musicians have come through the program, and many of them have had a profound impact on the scene. I’ve also been impacted by the students and the interactions I’ve had with them over these 30 years The music of Duke Ellington is certainly the highest level of what has come out of the United States of America.”
