SHS band at JEN

It is not every day a high school band group gets the chance to perform in front of some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world, but it is an opportunity that Stratford High’s jazz students rightly jumped at when they got the invitation a couple of months ago.

This year, the Stratford Jazz Orchestra was one of five high school jazz bands from across the country that was accepted to perform at a prestigious event organized by the Jazz Education Network – also known as JEN. This was a huge deal, as Stratford is the first large South Carolina jazz ensemble ever accepted to perform at this event.

Upon their return, students can confirm that this was an experience that they will not soon forget, and they owe a great deal of thanks to their band director, Greg Priest, for making it happen.

JEN is an international association that provides education resources for all levels, promotes community engagement and produces the largest performance/educational conference to the global jazz community.

Its yearly conference is the largest international jazz performance/educational conference in the world. Participants get to attend a variety of events, including sessions and clinics to fit every attendee’s jazz interest. Every year, hundreds of groups apply to be accepted as a featured performer at this conference.

Priest is one of the band directors at Stratford, along with Josh Artz. He applied to have his jazz students participate in the event last spring. The application process included submitting recordings of the group and some letters of recommendation.

The selection process is tough, but Priest knew his students would greatly benefit from the experience if selected.

“I wanted the students to enjoy themselves and learn from the best jazz musicians and educators in the world,” Priest said. “My hope was that they would come away from the conference with an even deeper appreciation and understanding of the jazz medium and want to delve deeper in their own learning and commitment to the genre.”

Priest initially received a rejection letter in August that said hundreds of ensembles from around the world had submitted for JEN, but what he did not know that his group was listed as the first alternate to attend should another group drop out.

Priest was painting the marching band field in October when he received an e-mail from Lou Fischer, chairman for the conference, saying they had a cancellation and that Stratford was the next highest-scoring group in the selection process.

While exciting news, this presented a bit of a challenge: the conference was scheduled for Jan. 8-11 at the Hyatt Regency conference center in Atlanta. Stratford was also still in marching band season, with practices three days after school until 7 p.m. and competitions every weekend.

Stratford’s Jazz Orchestra is a skilled jazz group that students have to re-audition for every year; students in the group say the seats are highly-coveted. The students who make the ensemble are no strangers to hard work and commitment.

With the JEN conference only two months out, Priest spoke with the students to see if they were up for the challenge of preparing for the event with such a quick turnaround time. Priest said they seemed really eager to give it a try.

Priest also knew that the students would get to interact with some of the biggest names in the jazz world, and that the concerts would be “out of this world phenomenal,” and that just by having the students listen to those concerts, they would become even better musicians.

After Priest quickly assembled the group that would go to the event, he sat the students down and explained the game plan with rehearsals; Stratford does not have a designated jazz class, so all jazz rehearsals are outside of school hours, which made this even more difficult, he said.

The students were up to the challenge, though, and committed to a few Saturday camps as well as some rehearsals over winter break to make it work. They also did a preview concert the week before winter break. VIEW PHOTOS.

SHS jazz students

“The students definitely stepped up for the occasion and I believe they were all satisfied with their performance and had a better understanding after the first few days of JEN of why we had practiced so hard,” Priest said.

Among the students who attended (see full list below) were seniors Santiago Balagtas and Colin McCombs and junior Isabella Camacho, who play trumpet, bass and alto sax, respectively. All three agreed that while performing in front of some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world was a little jarring, the nerves were well worth it.

“I left with no doubt in my mind that this is what I want to spend time doing,” Camacho said. “This is my passion.”

Stratford’s group performed on the final day of the conference. They otherwise spent the time attending clinics and other ongoing performances, as well as engaging with some of the greatest jazz musicians in the world, of all different ages and backgrounds.

“It made me realize I have a whole lifetime of music ahead of me,” McCombs said.

Balagtas said it was a life-changing event, and returned home itching to attend more jazz concerts.

“JEN opened my eyes to how much more is possible with this art form,” he said, adding, “When I say it was the best music I’ve ever heard in my life, I mean it.”

Priest said many of his students were brave enough to even participate in open mic jam sessions during the event.

“They asked intuitive questions and had earnest conversations that led many artists to come find me and tell me at how much they loved our students,” Priest said, adding, “We have renowned universities such as Berklee and University of North Texas saying that they have to get us on their recruitment rotation when they go around the country because of our students, so as a band director, I could not be any happier.”

While Priest may give all the credit to his students, his students give all the credit to their teacher.

“He’s an amazing director, and working under him is really great,” Camacho said. “He makes concepts easier to understand when we’re playing music, and he helps the group excel by pushing us past our limits.”

McCombs and Balagtas said Priest has the ability to switch from having fun with the students to making sure he has their full attention and that they are learning.

“He’s very clearly passionate, not just about the music, but about the job – working with kids,” Balagtas said. “It’s really nice to have a teacher that really connects with you.”

student with musician girls in jazz group

The following students performed at JEN:

Alto Sax

Isabella Camacho

Hayden Ledbetter

Jaylen Yom

Logan Johnson

Tenor Sax

Grayson Berrios

Sebastian Catangay

Bari Sax

James Giddens

Trumpet

Santiago Balagtas

Lauren Tinnea

Jackson Tucker

Max Ramirez

Arden Dixon

Trombone

Emmitt Bryant

Josh Wernham

Lana Ames

Jeremiah Cherry

Caroline Branham

Piano

Sophie DeGarady

Dorian Casson

Guitar

Ty Villar

Bass

Colin McCombs

Vibes

Aiden Albayalde

Drums

Josh Withers

Freddy Pleis