The Joy of Gigging
Most jazz musicians would love to have three gigs in one weekend, and the young Aptos Middle School Jazz Band members are no exception. And although they just play for food when they can get it, they’re also feeding the souls of their audiences and themselves as well. This past weekend they jazzed up a welcome BBQ for incoming students at their own school in San Francisco, opened the Park Merced Branch of the San Francisco Public Library system, and made the neighboring elementary school festival sizzle with swing.
Perhaps the most touching performance they did this year was at the Laguna Honda State Hospital where they played for elder residents who don’t get out much. “It was so cool to see how excited the people were there,” says trumpeter Janis Stuurman. “One man just couldn’t sit still and was dancing to our music with a huge grin on his face.” The dedicated, mostly 7th and 8th graders at Aptos rehearse three times per week, one hour before school starts. Their director, Mr. Allen Goodrich not only teaches them the great jazz canon and how to improvise, but organizes countless outreach opportunities, fundraises and is their chief roadie, schlepping equipment as necessary. And for Goodrich and the band, the joy of gigging is the joy of giving.
"Young At Art" Festival
The San Francisco Unified School District is in the midst of "Young At Art"; think eight-day field trips celebrating student creativity in visual, literary, media, and performing arts.
The sponsoring stages at the de Young Museum and the Bandshell in Golden Gate Park in San Francisco were abuzz this week with excited students, observant chaperones, rows of school busses, and camera-toting parents.
The annual event started May 14 and culminates on Friday, May 20 (read more about it all here) a special showcase of performances by ensembles from Lowell, Washington, and A.P. Giannini.
There will be films, plays, scholarship awards, and speakers, from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. in the museum — all are invited.
Print your invitation here. And don't forget to share your photos of this festival with us on Facebook!
Chanticleer Teaches the Craft
As previously reported by SFCV, one of the arms of Chanticleer’s education projects, the Louise A. Botto (LAB) Choir (kids age 14-20) is going strong. Don’t miss their only public performance this spring on May 30 at St. Mark’s Lutheran Church. Nine young singers from the Santa Rosa area, five from Concord and Lafayette, one from Napa, and four from Sacramento have given up their Saturdays to sing together and learn from director of education, Ben Johns. Their chamber program combines modern works of Stravinsky and Terry Riley with eight-part Mendelssohn and English folk songs.
And if you can’t stand sitting on the sidelines, take part in Chanticleer’s Community Sing, a project developed by the Weill Music Institute at Carnegie Hall at 2:15 p.m. on June 11 at the International High School, San Francisco. Part sing-along, part master class it’s all going to be fun, as you are led through an open rehearsal by the members of Chanticleer, and can even perform together with them in the culminating concert. See more about the event here. It’s part of Chorus America’s soldout annual conference, June 8-11. Make a reservation for this free event here.