The Bordentown Regional High School Jazz Band will have an opportunity to showcase its talent and skill on a national level this Saturday in Boston.
The band will compete at the Berklee College of Music’s 51st High School Jazz Festival, the largest high school jazz competition in the United States.
Led by director Michael Montalto, the band will participate in the festival held at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, which will feature more than 275 bands and vocal ensembles. Students will be awarded for their musical skills, while others will be honored for outstanding achievements in composition.
The event will run from 9 a.m. until 8:30 p.m.
Having submitted an application in the fall for the event, Montalto said the band was required to have a high-performance repertoire of music such as swing tunes, ballads and American standards upon being selected. Alongside performing a steady schedule of local shows and competitions over the past several years, Montalto felt the band’s performing experience equipped them for this distinguished event.
“I have a very committed group of individuals,” Montalto said. “I knew that this was a good year to do something like this based on how [the band was] performing at the end of last year – and having 90 percent of the band returning this school year, I knew this was going to be a banner year for us again.”
Not only will the band get a chance to perform in the festival, the Bordentown students will also have an opportunity to witness and participate in full-day activities such as clinics, jam sessions, concerts, as well as taking a tour of Berklee and more.
For Montalto, who said he came from a good performing arts program himself growing up, believes the students have the opportunity to create memorable experiences, both musically and personally, from this trip.
“The kids will do a performance and get to experience different performances from the Berklee student ensembles and also get to go to different master classes,” Montalto said. “I think that this kind of stuff, for these kids, is something they can look back on and be proud of.
“I’m definitely proud of them for achieving new levels and wanting to do things like this because in the end, they have to want to do it just as much as I want them to do it,” he said.
Since he began his tenure as director of the school district’s middle school and high school bands eight years ago, Montalto has helped the district’s music program reach new heights. Not only have the number of students actively participating in the district’s music program increased, Montalto said he has seen an improvement in the quality of the student’s musical talent as well during his time as director.
“The [music] program has definitely been growing, and the music skills have been heightened too,” he said. “The bands are getting better and better every year, which is awesome.”
No matter the increase in participation, quality of talent or recognition of their achievements, Montalto said that building a connection with his students has been most prominent part of being a band director.
“The best part has been seeing the program grow and building relationships with all the kids…seeing the kids grow up and turn into good people and good musicians,” he said.
As Montalto and the high school jazz band prepare to take on the competition at Berklee, the overriding support for the region’s music program from the school district’s officials and staff helped make this prestigious and memorable event possible for the students.
“The administration in Bordentown is super supportive of the music program from the superintendent down to all the school building principals,” he said. “This trip came about at the last minute, and everyone was supportive, especially the board of education. Everyone was very supportive of the band doing all these things – not only of this band, but all the bands. There’s a big community support for music in Bordentown.”
Scholarship and award winners from Saturday’s festival will be announced at 5:30 p.m., followed by a winners’ showcase concert at 7:30 p.m. The complete schedule can be found at festival.berkleejazz.org.