The clamour of the usual school day is replaced by the smooth sound of music filling the building. Students practice for the upcoming Jazz Festival, bringing about a flood of melodic notes and balanced beats.

The 44th annual Jazz Festival will take place from May 7-9. It will be held in the CHS auditorium and will host bands from all grades of school, as well as some professionals from all across the East Coast and Mid-Atlantic regions to play for scholarships and prizes. 

“The festival is an amazing time; we get schools from all over,” junior jazz guitarist Ray Hope said. “This year we’re having The Navy Blues, which is a seriously world class group. They’re affiliated with the Navy and just play beautiful music.”

The festival, while centering on the performers, also involves many student stage workers involved in making the event happen. From students working the lights to putting up the chairs and signs, nearly 100 students are involved in the logistical effort behind the festival.

“I always really enjoy helping each band with the lights and set up because they worked so hard to get to the festival in the first place,” junior Jake Vida said.

While it takes all of the students working together to make the festival a reality, the performers are the main event, with thousands of people performing in the festival from over 50 different schools coming together to play. The performing bands practice regularly to prepare for the festival, including CHS’ own Jazz Band. The ensemble practices every A day in the mornings before first period

 “We usually break into groups to practice our individual or smaller group parts,”  Hope said. “but when we come together to play the full piece each week, it’s clear that we’ve gotten better as a team.”

The practices are 90 minutes long and hold different kinds of drills, including practicing specific parts performers need to work on, playing through full songs as a group and performing four measure solos. During the actual festival, each band will play four to five songs within their hour-long slot, amounting to around eight hours of performances each day. The bands will play across the three days, with the younger bands playing on the first day and the older, more experienced ones over the next two. 

“Scheduling is an important part of the festival,” jazz band teacher Douglas Maloney said. “Each band needs to know when they’re to play, how long they have and when to break.”

Between the music, there will be many different activities for students, parents or audience members to engage in. There will be food trucks outside to eat lunch or dinner while waiting for the next performance.

“The jazz festival is a really great experience: it’s alive, and it’s ever changing,” Hope said. “Anyone who comes in with an idea of what they think jazz is will come away with a completely new and evolved idea of what it represents.”