For the first time ever, the Clarendon Hills Middle School Jazz Band and Hinsdale Middle School Jazz Ensemble will perform together, opening at 6:30 p.m. May 28 for the Pete Ellman Big Band at The Venue in Aurora.
The CHMS Jazz Band will open the night, followed by the HMS Jazz Ensemble, and then the Pete Ellman Big Band. Both local middle school jazz bands will perform a special piece together at the end of their set, said Eric Morong, CHMS band director.
“The Pete Ellman Big Band bandleader, Pete Ellman, always graciously invites middle school and high school jazz ensembles to open for his band,” Morong said. “We look forward to not only opening for one of the best professional big bands around the Chicagoland Area but to bridge the gap between our two middle schools. Our two middle school students rarely interact with each other across town, so we’re excited to share the stage with Hinsdale Middle School’s remarkable jazz band musicians.”
George Andrikokus, HMS band director, added, “Having the opportunity for our students to share the stage and open for a professional big band is such an exciting and rewarding musical experience.”
Morong said both the CHMS and HMS jazz bands have built a culture of excellence around jazz education in Hinsdale-Clarendon Hills Elementary District 181 and have earned several notable recent accolades.
The Hinsdale Jazz Ensemble performed last December at the prestigious Midwest Band/Orchestra Clinic, and the Clarendon Hills Jazz Band had nine of its students selected to perform at the Illinois Music Education Association Jazz Festival last fall.
Tickets for the May 28 performance may be purchased online for $10 at www.themusicvenue.org/calendar.
