HARLINGEN — They’re back in grand style!
A year after the pandemic canceled musical events and venues throughout the country, the Harlingen High School Jazz Ensemble will perform next month at a huge convention in San Antonio.
“Honestly, it’s a real honor to be invited to such a big convention,” said Caidon Moore, a senior, who will play bass trombone with his fellow jazz musicians at the Texas Music Educators Association 2022 Clinic/Convention.
The event will take place Feb. 9 – 12. Ensembles invited by TMEA demonstrate the highest level of achievement in music education, said a news release.
“TMEA is especially proud of Texas music educators and students for preparing and presenting a performance that will be appreciated by thousands of music educators,” said TMEA Executive Director Robert Floyd.
Last year the pandemic forced campuses to close and classes went virtual. This was problematic in any case but for students in the performing arts like band it was especially difficult. Musicians must practice daily to maintain their “chops” so they had to find some way to stay safe and keep practicing — and they did.
“A lot of programs were shut down,” said Benjamin Jaso, a senior tenor saxophone player. He was referring to the many music programs around the state and across the country that completely closed down to keep students and teachers safe from the COVID virus. Not so at Harlingen High School and other music programs in the district. HHS Band Director Maria Coronado and other music instructors quickly set up a way for students to practice their instruments at home while “Zooming” into Coronado’s computer — and hence to continue her tutelage.
“What separated us from them is that we kept on going no matter the circumstances,” Coronado said. “We made sure we were safe while we were doing it, so we made sure that the momentum of our band program kept on going.”
And so it was that they qualified to perform a “potpourri” of musical styles next month to an audience eager for live performances from young musicians.
“We’re trying to do a little bit of everything,” Coronado said. “The first chart that we’re doing is a very up-tempo swing called ‘Shade of Jade’ and it starts off with a drum set with our drum player, and it features our all-state tenor sax, Ben Jaso.”
Playing before such a large audience has been a dream for Ben since his freshman year.
“I’ve worked with my teachers to make sure that I get all the lessons, all the information I need to make sure that I’m able to perform with so many great musicians,” Ben said.
The next piece on their repertoire will be “Body and Soul”, a popular jazz standard written in 1930 which Coronado says is sort of a ballad that “kind of moves a little bit tempo wise.”
“We’re closing the show with a Latin chart that also features our jazz combo,” she said. “We’ll have some of our guest artists that are going to come in and share the stage with the kids so the kids can see they have something to look forward to and hopefully get inspired to become the next great jazz artists.”
Certainly, those great jazz artists are already showing their stuff with the HHS jazz ensemble. The young musicians expressed admirable excitement for the opportunities to enjoy the great passion of their lives.
“I’ve always loved music,” Caiden said. “The music is the best part, not only playing, but listening to that type of music.”
Caiden believes one of the secrets to the ensemble’s success is consistency.
“I think that’s one of the big things, you know, staying consistent over the years,” he said. “We’re known for having a great jazz band, and we’re proving that again this year.”
The soft trumpet backgrounds took some work for Lily Alaniz, 16.
“We came off such a great and amazing marching band year, going to state and everything,” referring to the Cardinal marching band’s great comeback after the lockdown.
“I was used to that style, loud, the big hits,” said Lily, a junior. “Jazz is similar in some aspects but there are a lot of pieces that feature certain instruments, so we have to have pretty nice soft backgrounds and a lot of trumpets aren’t used to that, especially high school. So we had to learn how to have a great amazing sound but to tone it down.”
There will be no toning down the energy, talent and enthusiasm of the HHS Jazz Ensemble next month when they perform for a grateful audience in San Antonio.
