Mira Costa High Jazz Band Wins National Jazz Festival
by Hibah Samad The Grammy Award-winning Mira Costa Jazz 1 band finished first in the Large Ensemble Category at the 5th Annual National Jazz Festival, a prestigious competition that took place in Philadelphia on February 10. The festival featured 68 ensembles from 50 schools across the country. The MCHC Jazz band shared the stage — and competed with — some of the largest schools in the nation. Joel Carlson, the director for Mira Costa Bands, expressed awe at the multitude of ensembles from across the country filling the Philadelphia Convention Center, both in sight and sound. “As you would walk down the hallways you would see and hear group after group performing in the different halls, left and right,” Carlson said. “Students also had the opportunity to attend educational clinics on specific topics given by world-class adjudicators, renowned jazz performers, and educators.” The spirit of the festival is intended to be less about competition and more about students inspiring each other. As one of the young musicians, Gill Scott, says on the National Jazz Festival website: “It’s not about the awards, or the competition, or the fight to first place, it’s about the community that is…
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