Country Day failed to place in the prestigious Reno Jazz Festival on April 26 at the University of Nevada, Reno.
However, to senior trombonist Alex Rogawski, the band’s performance was one of its best.
“The stakes for this competition are much higher compared to our previous festivals,” he said. “Other schools who have never heard of us or don’t know much about us will see our scores and maybe hear us play, so if we play really well they would think highly of us, but if we play poorly then they would think of us an average or below-average band.”
Jazz Band director Bob Ratcliff agreed.
“There were over 100 bands from seven states in the western U.S.,” Ratcliff said. “Any band that comes to this festival will be one of the top bands in their area.”
Freshman saxophonist Craig Bolman said bands in Country Day’s division in the festival were in higher classifications in the Golden Empire Music Festival on March 2 at California State University, Sacramento.
“It’s a really intense competition,” Bolman said of the Reno Jazz Festival.
—By Miles Morrow
