JAZZ FEST

The Middle School held its first-ever all-day Jazz Fest on April 4. The toe-tapping day included small group lessons with professional musicians and several performances by 150 students in the Grades 4–8 Band program. Jazz Fest was inspired by Malin Carta, UES/MS Jazz Band Instructor, who participated in a similar program when she was a young saxophonist in school.

The experience of playing with amazing older musicians kept me playing with band when I was young,” said Ms. Carta, who invited seven colleagues from different parts of her musical career to join her for a day at GCDS. “As a musician, I can’t overstate the importance of mentors.”

“The musicians provided authentic musical moments for our outstanding band students and I know that the kids will never think about making music the same way again,” said Jesse

Tennyson, Middle School Band Director. “Bringing accomplished artists into the band room creates a heightened level of musicianship and the combined knowledge and experience of the clinicians provides a ‘supercomputer-like’ resource to the students.”

Eighth-grader Nikhil Raval, who plays the alto saxophone, enjoyed the day. “I learned about how to make my playing better by not keeping my head in the sheet music only and keeping my eye on the dynamic markings (accents, staccatos, crescendos, decrescendos, etc.) from my clinician.”

The Middle School Jazz Band students performed for the entire division. Before the concert, Ms. Carta gave the audience a brief history of jazz and explained the importance of experimentation and improvising. In fact, she encouraged the students to clap whenever they wanted to during the performance. With that one suggestion, the Performing Arts Center was transformed into a jazz club with band members taking a swing at improvising through Billy Strayhorn’s “Take the ‘A’ Train.” Students swayed with the music, clapping as their peers finished their solos.

1 Guest clinician Nathan Edwards leads a masterclass with saxophone and clarinet players.

2 Guest clinician Emma Sayles gives George Belshaw, a private lesson on improvisation.

3 Malin Carta and guest clinicians Matt Dwonszyk and Sarah Uyar jammed with Kalyan Pelletier, Asher Kepler, and Kelly Corson on “Down by the Riverside.”

STUDENT PLAYWRIGHTS Win Awards & Staged Readings

GCDS Seniors Annabelle

Futch and Savanna Shettler received the Ernie DiMattia Emerging Young Artist Awards as winners of the 2023 Palace Theatre Playwriting Competition. Annabelle’s one-act play, Couples Therapy, and Savanna’s one-act play, Reflection, were two of three plays that received staged readings by Luis Salgado, an award-winning theater director, and Broadway actors at the Palace Theatre in Stamford on April 17. More than 30 GCDS students and faculty attended the event in support of Annabelle and Savanna.

The Emerging Young Artist Award was established in 2010 and is open to all high school students from Fairfield and Westchester counties. Winners have included instrumentalists, vocalists, composers, actors, and playwrights. In 2015, the award was renamed for Ernie DiMattia, former president of The Ferguson Library in Stamford and a longtime Stamford Center for the Arts board member. The students each received $500 for their winning submissions.

Irish Dancing Champion

Congratulations to GCDS senior Erin Dixon who placed 6th in the World Irish Dancing Championship in the Ladies 17–18 year old bracket.

“After 15 years of intense training and competition, Irish dancing has become a part of what defines me. Achieving a top ten position was a dream, and I was incredibly proud to represent America and place 6th overall. My dance has taken me around the world and taught me so many valuable life lessons, which I’ll take with me to college.” —Erin Dixon, Grade 12

Middle School Band Travels to Disney World

Seventh- and eighth-grade band students traveled to Disney World on April 21–24. They performed a 20-minute concert on a Disney stage and participated in a two-hour workshop with a Disney musician and sound engineer. They also learned about sight-reading and what it takes to be a professional musician.

“I am so proud of the way our students represented GCDS in their behavior, school spirit, and musical excellence,” said Jesse Tennyson, Middle School Band Director. “They had the trip of a lifetime and made memories that they will share for years to come. None of this could have been possible without four outstanding chaperones: Malin Carta, J.R. Howe, Andrew Ledee, and Rob Waller.”