In recent weeks, Newton South High School’s Jazz Ensemble has received no shortage of recognition.
On May 8, the NSHS Ensemble, which is directed by award-winning educator Lisa Linde, was named the winner of the Large High School Jazz Ensemble category in Downbeat magazine’s Student Music Awards. Each year, the magazine honors student jazz musicians in middle school, high school, and college ensembles around the world.
Additionally, the NSHS Ensemble was named one of 30 finalists in the Jazz at Lincoln Center’s annual Essentially Ellington competition. Participation in the Essentially Ellington festival, which took place in New York City from May 7-11, was restricted to finalists and marked the NSHS Ensemble as one of the top 30 high school jazz groups in the world.
Newton South jazz musicians received further recognition at the festival, with the NSHS Ensemble receiving the Outstanding Clarinet Section award and Ensemble members Adam Sheena and Leila Mostaghimi winning Outstanding Trumpet and Outstanding Clarinet awards, respectively.
Mostaghimi said that receiving the award was an honor and came as a great surprise. Having opted to improvise her solo instead of writing it out before her performance, she did not expect to receive a prize.
“Quite a large portion of soloists at Essentially Ellington write out their solos so that they can ensure that they play the best they could possibly play in their performance,” she said. “Ultimately, I decided that improvising was more important and would provide a greater learning experience, so I did not write out a solo …it means so much to have received this award for an improvised solo, so much more than it would have been if I had written something out.”
Mostaghimi said that the festival’s uplifting community made the trip an experience she will never forget.
“The environment was such that you could walk up to anyone and start talking and make friends,” she said. “People were cheering each other on like crazy during all of the performances, and it really didn’t feel like a competition. It felt like everyone cared more about the music than winning, which I really enjoyed.”
Guitarist Max Stober attended the festival with the Jazz Ensemble. He said that the competition was a valuable opportunity to connect with other jazz musicians.
“[You’re] getting to go into a room where you see a thousand other people interested in the very niche thing that you are,” he said.
Linde said that while participating in the festival was an incredible experience for her students, performing music requires taking a risk, which can be an obstacle for student performers to overcome.
“Performing is scary for anybody. You go stand up, you’re doing something that has emotional expression, personal expression, and then people might not like it. It’s a lot to put yourself out there,” she said. “We show up with students who are like, ‘do I fit in? Am I good enough? How will people react?’ ”
However, Linde said that her students’ worries disappeared after experiencing their first day of jam sessions. She said that the culture of the festival provided an invaluable opportunity for students to interact with other student musicians in a unique and meaningful way.
“[The students] came out …bouncing up and down with pure joy about how warm and welcoming and nice everybody was to each other,” she said. “It’s the idea of being together in a space with people you’ve never met before and the way you can connect through music and really cheer each other on and lift each other up. It was just the warmest, closest feeling.”
Theo Younkin is a Fig City News student reporter, a rising senior at Newton South High School, and former Co-Managing Editor of the NSHS Lion’s Roar.
