May 26, 2006

MOORESTOWN FRIENDS JAZZ SWING CHOIR & JAZZ ENSEMBLE FIRST IN TORONTO MUSIC FESTIVAL

 

MOORESTOWN – Moorestown Friends School’s Jazz Swing Choir and the Jazz Ensemble placed first in their division at the EPN Festival of Music competition, held the weekend of May 19 in Toronto.

The 11-member Jazz Swing Choir, directed by Choral Music Teacher Edmund Robertson, placed first and received a rating of “excellent.” Members of the choir are seniors Ashley Alter of Collingswood, Jared Smith of Lumberton, Christine Liang of Sewell and Whitney Wolf of Moorestown; juniors Anna Tate of Medford, Andrew Bernard of Merchantville, Julie Steinberg of Mount Laurel and Katherine Hoelz of Moorestown; sophomore Kevin Schlagle of Maple Shade and freshmen April Gompers of Moorestown and Celestine Mignott of Voorhees.

The 18- member Jazz Ensemble, directed by Instrumental Music Teacher George Stalle, also placed first and received a rating of “excellent.” Senior Jazz Ensemble members are Sean Fenton of Lumberton (baritone sax), Ruben Vargas of Camden (baritone horn), Nathan Harper of Port Republic (bass clarinet), Rob Leili-Marrazzo of Allentown (trumpet) and Wes Jones of Mount Holly (drums).

Junior Jazz Ensemble members are Andrew Thompson of Mount Holly (tenor sax), David Sheffield of Mount Laurel (piano) and Emily Hummel of Lumberton (flute). Sophomore members are Joey Alter of Collingswood (alto sax), Glenn Smyth of Riverton (tenor sax), Tim Cook of Moorestown (trumpet), Kevin Muratore of Medford (guitar), Wyatt Cain of Moorestown (bass) and Ryan Kirkpatrick of Mount Laurel (piano).            

Freshmen members are Janak Bhatt of Medford (alto sax), Maeve Kelly of Crosswicks (French horn) and Scott Goldstein of Cherry Hill (trombone) and eighth-graders are Joey Wittman of Maple Shade (drums) and Justin Spencer-Linzie (trombone.)  

Moorestown Friends also was awarded the prestigious “Esprit de Corps” Award, an award given in honor of Dr. Tim Lautzenheiser, a founding member of the music festival. This award is given to the school that best reflects the spirit of cooperation, mutual support and commitment to excellence to which the competitions are dedicated.

Junior Andrew Bernard of Merchantville was named best accompanist among the 25 participating groups at the festival.

Also participating was the Moorestown Friends Concert Choir, which received an excellent rating, and placed second; the Chorale, which was rated excellent and placed fourth, and the String Ensemble, which was rated superior and placed third.    

Nine schools from regions throughout the U.S. and Canada competed in the festival, including schools from Lansdale, Pa.; Port Jefferson, N.Y.; Pottstown, Pa.; Detroit, Mich.; Holland, Mich.; Westfield, N.J.; Brownstown, Mich. and Calgary, Alberta. In all, 25 groups performed.

Schools were grouped not on size or enrollment, but on the difficulty level of the music their groups prepared. Performances were of a very high quality, as some of the participating groups were arts magnet schools, regional high schools or non profit community groups.

After performing, each group received a clinic with a university music professor, composer or professional musician.