Only eight students from around the state can claim a spot in this highly-coveted jazz ensemble – but three Berkeley County School District students can say they did.
Stratford High 11th graders Santiago Balagtas and Emmitt Bryant, and Goose Creek High 11th grader Harrison Chandler, have been selected for the South Carolina Band Director’s Association Honors Jazz Combo for 2024.
Back in 2017, the SCBDA approved a proposal to start the SCBDA Honors Jazz Combo that will perform as part of the Master Recital Concert at the SCMEA Conference in Columbia. The 2024 conference will be held at the Metropolitan Convention Center.
This opportunity is open to exceptional state high school jazz students who undergo a rigorous audition process, including performing two jazz solos to demonstrate their improvisations skills.
The ensemble is comprised of one alto sax, one tenor sax, one trumpet, trombone, vibraphone, keyboard, drum set, and a bass player. Balagtas is a trumpet player and Bryant is a trombone player in Stratford High’s band program. Chandler is an alto sax player at Goose Creek High.
The eight students across the state who were selected for the ensemble will convene on Feb. 10 for an intensive rehearsal session led by distinguished college director and former Goose Creek High alumni, Dr. David Carter, who currently serves as Assistant Professor of Music Education at Coastal Carolina University. He previously served as the Director of Bands and Fine Arts Department Chair at Cane Bay High, where he was named the 2015 Teacher of the Year. Carter also travels throughout the southeastern United States as an active jazz, contemporary and classical musician and clinician.
All three BCSD students are highly active members of their schools’ band programs and recently scored spots in Berkeley County School District’s High School Honor Band. Balagtas and Bryant are also part of the High School Honor Jazz Band.
Stratford High
Their background in music dates back to their middle school years working under band director Ronnie Ward at Westview Middle.
When Balagtas and Bryant entered Stratford as freshmen, band director Greg Priest encouraged the two of them to consider jazz band.
“It’s a bit of a change of pace – you definitely have to work hard,” Bryant said. “I think band is really good for you because it teaches you…balance, working and doing all this other stuff.”
Both say jazz band has turned out to be their favorite band to perform with at school.
“It’s a music you can feel,” Balagtas said.
As the two of them continued to flourish in their high school’s band program, they were among a group of highly-skilled jazz performers at the school who were further encouraged to audition for the SCBDA Honors Jazz Combo. The duo said with Priest’s guidance, they put a lot of after-school hours into recording music as part of the jazz combo audition process.
Priest said he is incredibly proud of Balagtas and Bryant for the time and effort they have put into their jazz technique this past year.
“As musicians, growth is always our highest goal,” Priest said. “These two individuals have truly embraced that mindset and their efforts have earned them seats in the highly competitive SCBDA All-State Jazz Combo for the 2023-2024 school year.
“They will learn a tremendous amount from their clinician, Dr. David Carter, and the clinic will be an experience they remember for a lifetime,” Priest added.
The students also spoke highly of Priest and band director Josh Artz.
“They’re amazing teachers,” Balagtas said. “We really would not be in the position that we’re in right now without them.”
“They definitely hold very high expectations to their students,” Bryant said. “Their reasoning is, if you hold the students to the highest expectations, they’re going to rise to meet them.”
Neither are sure if they plan to pursue music at a collegiate level yet, but both will say how impactful band has been on their high school experience.
“Music is a very, very big factor in my life right now and I think it’ll stay a big factor,” Balagtas said.
Goose Creek High
Chandler has played the alto sax for about six years, starting in fifth grade. He studied music at Marrington Middle School of the Arts.
“I’ve always wanted to play the saxophone,” Chandler said, adding he remembers being hooked by video of a saxophonist when he was in elementary school. “From then on, in fourth grade, I always knew I wanted to play the saxophone. There’s no other instrument that I really wanted to play.”
Chandler is a very active band student at Goose Creek High, where he joined the jazz band his freshman year. Jazz band has subsequently become his favorite music to perform.
“It’s a very expressive kind of music, and it’s very serious at the same time,” Chandler said. “You kind of just get to make up your own emotions, and make other people feel happy with what you can play. There’s just so much intricate details into playing and practicing.”
Since joining band, Chandler said he has enjoyed connecting with his fellow classmates and growing as both a musician and a student.
“It definitely teaches you how to talk to people,” he said. “You’re around different kinds of people, but you’re all playing an instrument, so you all have something in common to do together, and it’s very fun,” he said.
While very humbled, Chandler is excited to join the other seven members of the jazz ensemble in February.
“I’ve never experienced something like this, so that’s why it’s even more important to me,” he said, adding, “I love jazz, and being able to play with other people my age…is very fun.”
All students selected for the ensemble will convene on Feb. 10 for an intensive rehearsal session led by distinguished college director and former Goose Creek High alumni, Dr. David Carter.
Goose Creek High is very familiar with Dr. Carter; he has visited the school many times to work with the band students.
Tyler Holliday, director of bands for Berkeley Center for the Arts at Goose Creek High, said the school is lucky to have a well-rounded student like Chandler.
“Harrison is just one of those kids that works really hard and has that natural talent, and when you have those combinations together, it is…the best thing,” he said, adding that Chandler has really evolved during his time with the band. “I think what makes Harrison really outstanding as a band student is his work ethic. He really is just a star human – he not only is a fantastic musician, he’s a really great friend who cares about people.”