Ten years ago, the Night of Jazz was just
an idea. The school wanted to showcase
our students’ talent in a low-key night,
formatted around their performances. Our
first year, we held a small gathering of close
to 50 guests at the Andrew's Air Force
Base Officers Club. The Jazz Ensemble was
a relatively new program, in comparison to
the rest of our repertoire, and performing
was certainly a novel concept to the group.
The event had a Valentines Day theme and
was titled "For the Love of Jazz". It was a
hit! Our students played phenomenally, the
atmosphere was warm, and by the end of
the night, a tradition was born.
Ten years later, in 2014, the BMHS Music
Program just hosted their 10th anniversary
of that event. The differences couldn’t be
more notable.
What began as one group of students
willing to experiment with Jazz music
has developed into a musical body with
multiple heads – two distinct, separate Jazz
ensembles with a host of specials guests.
We expanded the idea of community
involvement by inviting guest musicians
after our first year.
In the past, our soloists have included
Saxophonist Mr. Chris Vadala, director of
Jazz Studies at the University of Maryland,
Trombonist Mr. Jim McFalls, Director of
Jazz studies at Towson University, Trumpet
Player Mr. Doug Sorensen, US Navy
Commodores Retired, BMHS Alumni
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THE MUSTANG MESSENGER
Saxophone Player Kevin Basiliko '92, and
more.
Two years ago, our special guest soloist,
Mr. Fred Hughes, was inspired enough by
his own participation to join our BMHS
Music Faculty as the Adjunct Director of
Jazz Band. Also featured during our past
ten years has been our very own choir
director Ms. Rhoda Sutton, as well as our
band and orchestra faculty, Mrs. Francine
Amos Hardy, and Mr. Anthony Conto.
For our 10th Anniversary Night of Jazz,
we decided to forgo finding a marquis
soloist and, instead, featured the musicians
we’ve produced as a fine arts program.
Bringing back alumni from the past 10
years, we performed a grand finale for the
night featuring a compilation Alumni
Band. Representatives in the band echoed
the development of our school’s fine arts
program, with members dating back to
1998. All totaled, we had 25 alumni return
to perform – masterfully, at that. It was
nearly poetic to celebrate the progress
of our most notable event by returning
the students that made it such a success,
year to year.
as well as a concert and dance with music
performed by the award winning Bishop
McNamara Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Lab.
The funds raised by this wonderful night, as
they always have, go to support the BMHS
Band and Orchestra program through
instrument repair budgets, uniforms, and
scholarships for students in need.
We want to thank everyone who has
supported the event over the years. It has
been a fantastic decade. I, along with my
staff, cannot wait to see
what the next ten years
bring us. We hope to
see you all next
February,
for
the 11th annual
Night of Jazz.
The Night of Jazz has always been open
to everyone in the BMHS Community
and, after only ten years, the attendance
has grown to over 250 people.
What began as a calm night of jazz, now
features a buffet dinner provided by
Catering by the Bay, a wonderful silent
auction assembled by parent volunteers,
THE MUSTANG MESSENGER
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