A Great Time of the Year

With the holidays behind us, we are into one of my favorite times of the year --- preparation for the
mid-winter concert and the jazz events. Since our band/choral concert in December, the students
have been hard at work on our next event's music. The reaction to the December concert was
heartwarming.

Both Paul McGovern and I were very pleased with the students' performance, and it was wonderful
to see such a large audience. We have been working hard to increase the size of the audience, so
this was encouraging. Students -- like all performers -- react well when there are many folks in the seats.

For the upcoming concert we have a varied program that includes an orchestral war horse (Suppe's
"Poet and Peasant"), some more music by Pierre LaPlante, a march classic and a lovely Frank Ticheli
arrangement of the venerable "Shenandoah."

Concert Jazz Ensemble and Combo I will perform at the Berklee festival. The Berklee festival, in which
over 100 bands participate, is the largest such event in the country. It is celebrating its 40th year. The
festival is at the Hynes Auditorium in Boston. Concert Jazz will perform a set of tunes arranged by
CEMS band director Terry White. It will, in all probability, be the only big band featuring music written
specifically for the ensemble. Combo 1 is a self-directed group featuring five of our outstanding senior
jazz musicians.

The Thursday Combo, Thursday Jazz Ensemble, Tuesday Combo and Repertory Jazz Ensemble join
these two groups in the district jazz festival Feb. 11 in Biddeford. The event is at the brand new Biddeford
Middle School, a great venue. Districts are the qualifying round for the state jazz festival.

Both combo director Ralph Norris and I am very pleased with the progress the groups have made thus far.
The students have shown much dedication and are the reason the Cape jazz program is the envy of many
in the state. Nearly 80 band students are part of the jazz program. With three jazz ensembles and four
combos (the three aforementioned and a group to be drawn from the new jazz improvisation class), Cape --
one of the smaller schools -- has the largest jazz program in Maine.

We are proud of the quality as well as the quantity of the program and look forward to sharing it with all of you.