Despite ‘Fantastic Performances’—

NMS Night Of Jazz Ends On A Note Of Disappointment

By Eliza Hallabeck

Along with music from multiple Newtown jazz band groups and the Connecticut Army National Guard’s Whistlin’ Dixie Jazz Band, people attending the Newtown Night of Jazz on Wednesday, May 12, also heard Newtown Middle School teacher Mark Mahoney give a “rather pointed speech,” as he called it the following day.

“It was the very end of the night,” said Mr Mahoney, “everyone had gotten a standing ovation, and I said, I don’t mean to end the night on a sour note, and the pun is intended, but thank you for coming to the 11th annual, and final, Newtown Night of Jazz.”

The program started 12 years ago, as Mr Mahoney explained on Thursday, May 13, and at that time it was one middle school band and one high school band.

Wednesday’s event featured four bands and the guest artist.

“I was standing on the stage, the younger ones were set up on the floor in front of us, and I said everything down here, next year, goes away,” Mr Mahoney recounted. “The high school band will be intact; however, these groups are not going to be funded next year.”

Hearing Wednesday’s concert, he said, makes it hard to believe for him the programs are not worth funding.

While the Board of Education has not voted to cut after school funding and cannot take action on its budget until it passes town referendum, the topic of after school funding has been discussed at multiple meetings.

The high school band, directed by Kurt Eckhardt, is overseen by parent volunteers, as Board of Education Chair Lillian Bittman has said at multiple board meetings. The volunteers raise funds for the group through different events throughout the year, and the organization model of the high school band has been discussed as one option for the board to look into for other after school programs.

The best thing that happened to the middle school Jazz Band since the program began, Mr Mahoney said, was the Reed after-school Jazz Band forming. When co-directors Phillip Beierle and Robert Nolte took over the Reed band, Mr Mahoney said he saw a rise in quality at the middle school level for jazz.

The high school band was spot-on Wednesday night, according to Mr Mahoney, but if the Reed and middle school legs of the jazz band program are cut from underneath the high school level, students will be showing up in ninth grade looking to have their first experience playing in a jazz band.

“When you cut out the programs, it is going to be felt across the board,” said Mr Mahoney.

Mr Mahoney said the after school music programs, including NMS Chamber Orchestra for string musicians and NMS Concert Choir for vocalists, provide a chance for students to perform at a high level. Students who need the challenge, he said, may not bother when being taught in class.

Mr Mahoney said the program is a premium product for the students, and is already offered at a discount price.

“I would not support any fee structure that is exclusionary for the students who can’t come up with the money,” he said. “Everybody has the right to play. It doesn’t matter what type of background they are coming from.”

The middle school Jazz Band runs for less than $2,600 a year, which covers the September through May period, according to Mr Mahoney. Some years a $5 bus fee can be asked for from students, for transport to Western Connecticut State University.

“Last night featured the Reed School Jazz Band, the middle school Jazz Band, the select high school Gold Band, the high school Blue Band, which is a student lead group lead by Chris Segovia, who has aspirations to be a music teacher; they performed a little before the concert and we had as guest artists the Army National Guard group Whistlin’ Dixie,” said Mr Mahoney.

“The students did fantastic,” said Mr Mahoney, adding the middle school Jazz Band does about seven concerts a year. Some of those are to entertain family and friends, one is a special night held for a more extensive family involvement, and some include participating in music festivals at Western Connecticut State University.

Usually when the middle school band attends a Western Connecticut State University festival at least one student is recognized by a scholarship or another form of award, according to Mr Mahoney. When that happens, the judges are not just choosing from the middle school band, they are choosing from the pool of performers at the festivals. It puts a feather in the middle school Jazz Band’s cap, said Mr Mahoney.

The after school activity performed one or two concerts a year when Mr Mahoney took over it roughly 12 years ago. In looking for ways to make it a more successful performing group, “It became an after school program that was available by audition only. By auditioning the group, it raised the bar for expectation.”

Reed Jazz Band co-director Robert Nolte said the Wednesday night event lasted about an-hour-and-a-half, with roughly 350 people in attendance.

“The night went fantastic,” said Mr Nolte. “All the groups were fairly impressed with one another, I think.”

There are about 35 students in the Reed program, and about 22 students in the NMS program, according to both teachers.

The NMS Jazz Band gives students a real sense of pride and accomplishment, Mr Mahoney said. It also pulls students back from the high school, providing alumni of the program a chance to work toward high school community service hours.

Some days Mr Mahoney puts alumni to work, having them teach students a piece of music in small groups or one-to-one. Other times alumni play along with the band to demonstrate parts.

“We have students that come back on a real regular basis,” said Mr Mahoney, “which tells me there is pride in the band. They really enjoyed it.”

The history of Newtown, according to Mr Mahoney, shows that when programs are cut, they do not come back. One example, he said, was a Wind Ensemble that was once offered at NMS, but has not returned after being cut out of the budget 15 years ago.

While Mr Mahoney is not a Newtown resident, he said, he pays tuition to send his daughter to school in Newtown.

Mr Mahoney said he has heard from parents who say, “It makes them sick to have something of this quality just be taken away because the Board of Finance arbitrarily came up with this $2.5 million ticket. Myself and anybody else has yet to hear any justification with hard core facts to back up that number.”

Mr Nolte said he has not yet given thought to the possibility that both programs could be cut, because the issue is still in the Board of Education’s hands.

While being co-director of the Reed Jazz Band had been a great experience, Mr Nolte said it would be sad “to see something like that go, and all the after school programs that we have here at Reed go.”

Events like Wednesday night’s Night of Jazz teach students something beyond the classroom, according to Mr Nolte.

And, “I know parents enjoyed seeing where their students will be going,” he said.