POI: Jazz Band to compete at Idaho’s Lionel Hampton Festival

The high-school Jazz Band will travel to Moscow, Idaho, where they will once again be competing in the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, Thursday, Feb. 21-Sunday, Feb. 24.

In addition to the  student competition, the festival includes many live artists and jazz workshops. The annual festival usually attracts more than 12,000 people, band director Bob Ratcliff said.

 Once there, the band will compete with over 100 other groups in the “large ensemble” category, the best of which will earn the chance to perform live at a student concert the evening after competition. When the band competed two years ago, they won the chance to play on stage.

“When we performed (for the judges), that was the best I’ve heard out of any Country Day Jazz Band.” Ratcliff said.

In addition to competition, the band will attend workshops that vary from lessons on instrument maintenance to the finer points of being in a rhythm section.

The members of the Jazz Band, along with the combined music programs of the middle and high schools, will also be attending the Forum Music Festival in Anaheim on Friday, April 19.

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