An Exceptional Year For Newtown Middle School Jazz Band

By Eliza Hallabeck

For Newtown Middle School band teacher Mark Mahoney, there are good years and there are great years. This week, after a rehearsal for the Jazz Band after school program, he said this has been an exceptional year for the group.

“Every year I have been surprised,” he said. The after school program of 24 students meets Mondays from 2:15 until 3:15, starting in September and running until the beginning of June.

Mr Mahoney said he has been in charge of the Jazz Band for the past 11 years, his time as a teacher at the school.

“The biggest thing that I have learned,” he said, “is that if you set the bar really high, most of the kids will far exceed your expectations.”

The group is now facing three nights of performances: one at Reed Intermediate School, one at the middle school, and one scheduled for Western Connecticut State University. Monday’s rehearsal found the band practicing relatively new and old songs for the group.

“I always tell them when I meet them,” Mr Mahoney said regarding early meetings of the band in September, “that this is going to be the most fun they have had while working hard.”

He said the group is predominantly made up of eighth grade students this year, but every year, including this year, there are a surprising number of seventh grade students who try out for a position in the Jazz Band.

“It’s really neat to see when they take what you say to heart, and go home and work on it,” Mr Mahoney said.

The students receive their music and try out in September. Mr Mahoney likened trying out for the Jazz Band to trying out for a sports team, because, he said, not everyone can make it onto the team.

He starts the program by choosing a song he feels will sound difficult to the students at first, “to pique their interest.”

Eighth grade student Jake Locorotondu said he enjoys playing drums because it is fun and relaxing. He said being in the Jazz Band allows him to meet more people.

Seventh grade student Morgan Reiss said she likes playing the trombone, “because it can get really low, and really high too. So it’s like a mix of different instruments.”

“I think the kids who are in it, are really proud of it,” said Mr Mahoney.

The Jazz Band’s upcoming performance at WestConn. will bring the students to the White Hall at the university on April 30 for the WestConn Jazz Festival.

“When they are done playing, I step aside,” he said regarding the WestConn festival. He said the panel of judges will then go on the stage with the students and run through what they accomplished well, and offer constructive criticism for parts that need work. This will take place in front of the audience of Jazz Bands from other schools.

None of the students in the Jazz Band this year have performed in the WestConn festival before, because of scheduling conflicts. This will be the first time in five to six years the Jazz Band from Newtown Middle School will perform in the festival.

“Newtown has always had a strong jazz program,” he said.

Other important nights for the Jazz Band are April 29, when they will be performing the Festival Of The Arts at Newtown Middle School, and May 7, when they will be performing at Reed Intermediate School for the Newtown Night of Jazz.