In the light of dusk, both middle and high schoolers got the chance to preform in Hagerty’s Jazz Under the Stars event. The concert began with a performance by Lawton Chiles Middle School’s jazz band, followed by Hagerty’s Jazz Two ensemble and concluding with the school’s top group, Jazz One. Audience members were treated to a variety of desserts such as pieces of cheese cakes and cannolis served on a platter, as well as refreshments to enjoy.
“It’s a show of what jazz is and how the instruments can come together and make the piece come to life by emphasizing its ups and downs,” freshman Grace Garbelman said. “It’s just non stop fun.”
It was enjoyable for many of the highschool students to see how the younger generation of band students perform, with many of them first participating in the same event as middle schoolers themselves.
“I love watching Lawton because it shows how much work they put into it,” Garbelman said. “I hope they enjoyed the event as much as the rest of us have.”
The event was also a chance for the jazz band to show off all of the work they put into their music throughout the year and how they developed as a team.
“I think [the audience] can really take away how we work together,” senior Laura Chen said. “You can be a really good player by yourself, but you have to learn to kind of play with others and match other people’s tone and intonation. That’s really important, and I think our jazz band does a really good job of it.”
The details, such as tables and refreshments, were organized by the parent organizations, and students helped to set up.
“Since we’ve done it so many years in a row at this point, like a machine,” said band director Brad Kuperman. “Everyone knows where they need to be [and] when they need to be in order to make it run.”
The band hosts a Jazz Under the Stars event every year, and it is an event many students look forward to towards the end of the year.
“It’s really different [from other events] because normally classical concerts are indoors and this is our standalone second jazz concert of the year,” Chen said. “I think it’s really nice, especially [with] how we also had Lawton Chiles coming. It’s really special.”
The event is additionally the last jazz concert of the school year, making it a fun way to conclude for many, but an emotional experience for seniors.
“I was really excited, [but] it was kind of sad, because I feel like joining jazz really helped me grow a lot as a person. It’s bittersweet,” Chen said.
