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Show Sun Advocate Wednesday, May 14, 1986 Jazz comeback being seen at Vlont Harmon Jr. High By ARVA SMITH Staff writer Vibrant, harmonious jazz played with aplomb and improvisation reveals that the young musicians in the Mont Harmon Junior High School Jazz Ensemble are stars on the local entertainment scene. Formed four years ago by Scott Stanton, band director at the junior high school, the groups renditions of classics such as Basin Street Blues and more recent hits never fail to bring enthusiastic applause from audiences. They took third place in state competition. Complimenting the jazz musicians and appearing with them are the Jazz Singers directed by Stantons wife, Kristen. She is choral director at Mont Harmon. 22 players in the Ensemble and eight singers in the Jazz Singers. The Jazz Singers appear in two rl combinations, as an mixed a as and group. group Invitations to appear on programs have become so numerous that the Jazz Ensemble and Jazz Singers are unable to accept all of them, There are Jazz all-gi- Stanton said. The Jazz Ensemble has not only provided high quality entertainment for many people in this area, it has enhanced the schools music program by becoming a focus for the band program, Stanton said. We have a strong band program at Mont Harmon Junior High School and have come a long way in a short time, Stanton said. The jazz group could not exist without the band that serves as a feeder for it, he said. It is sort of a catch 22 situation, he said, in which the Jazz Ensemble depends on the band program but the band program is greatly enhanced by students having the goal of getting into the jazz group. There are disappointed young musicians each spring after auditions are held for the Jazz Ensemble because more than 100 try out for the 22 positions. Everyone must audition. Playing with the group one year does not automatically insure a place for the following year but most of those who get in the jazz group as eighth graders qualify for a second year because they have the advantage of a years experience playing with the group, Stanton said. The majority of the young musicians are products of the public school program in which group instruction on band instruments is offered beginning in the sixth grade. Few of the musicians in this area have the private in- that is common in larger metropolitan areas, possibly because there are not as many instrumental instructors here, Stanton said. struction We have been very successful with 30s, 40s, and 50s music, he said, and most of our music is not rock. It is not a matter that there is not good rock music but I think students should have the chance to hear something besides heavy metal. To me there is only good and bad music and these can be found in all types of music. I try to get kids to realize Members of the jazz singers at Mont Harmon Junior High School swing through the old Bill Haley hit "Rock Around the they have a choice, Stanton said Students enjoy playing with the Jazz Ensemble, he said. is fun, This comment, They lets do it again. They have developed an appreciation for mouth. A native of Newton, Iowa, she said that going to Monmouth, a small, liberal arts college, was not a difficult choice for her The jazz group could not exist She also played the saxophone and oboe. without the band that serves as a feeder for it." Scott Stanton jazz, one of the few truly American art forms. A native of Canaan, Conn., Stanton played rock and roll on a guitar during his teenage years but he entered Monmouth College in Monmouth, 111. His goal was to become a professional musician and following graduation he joined a n rock and roll band. We were a lounge band and played Las Vegas and similar places, he said. We lived out of a suitcase and far from the four-ma- glamourous life on the road that we had many people imagine a stressful existence. We traveled a lot and had very little free time, he said. He decided to try teaching and went back to the Monmouth area where he taught instrumental and choral music to in a rural school. grades Once he began teaching he knew that teaching was what he 5-- 12 wanted to do. While there he met his future wife and collaborator, Kristen Campbell, a student at Mon Clock." Under the direction of Kristen Stanton, the group joins with the jazz band at many concerts and performances. because her parents and grandparents had gone there. She earned a degree in music education with a major in piano. Unlike her husband, she always planned to teach music, she said. She said that his teaching instrumental music and her teaching choral music in the same school is a convenient arrangement and makes collaboration easy. Stanton credits part of the success of the music and jazz program at the junior high school to the sympathetic and supportive administration. Principal (Larry) Leonard accepts the fact that in order for a quality program to be achieved that good equipment is needed along with class scheduling that will allow the program to flourish, he said. Students need to be able to take music classes more than one year. Stanton teaches jazz at the high school as well as the junior high school and all the instrumental classes at Mont Harmon. In addition he teaches guitar at College of Eastern Utah and assists Ruth Ellen Wood with an orchestra that meets before school. There will be a jazz concert on May 20 at 7:30 p.m. at Mont Harmon Junior High school to which the public is invited. M Photos by Ed McKeever Saxophonist Paige Patterick is one of a variety of soloists takes part during jazz concerts and programs. who Members of the Mont Harmon Junior Jazz Ensemble concentrated hard on their music during a recent concert. The junior high band performs regularly, but still cannot accept all the invititations it receives. dance concert is planned Ririe-Woodbu- ry Dance The Company of Salt Lake City will present their new childrens Ririe-Woodbu- ry Electronic Dance concert, Transformer, May 21 at 7:30 p.m. in the Geary Theater under sponsorship of the Utah Arts and Price City Community Progress Committee. Council In addition to the evening performance, the dance company will present a performance for fifth and sixth grade students at 1:30 p.m. in the Geary Theater and a master class at 4:30 p.m. which is open to the public. Cost of the evening performance and the master class will each be $3. Tickets are available at Lees Music, Anns Hallmark Shop h and at the Athletic Center at the College of Eastern Utah. Combining dazzling computeBunnell-Dmitric- r-generated novative graphics, costumes in- and energetic choreography with a Dance Company take a Members of the break from their workout for the upcoming "Electronic Dance Transformer" to be presented in the Geary Theater Ririe-Woodbur- y f The program was designed for children at CEU on May but has gained rave reviews from adults as well. 21. captivating narrative and original score, the program displays the primary elements dance while celebrating the unique qualities of the human the most adcomputer vanced system ever created. of Although commissioned by the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts as a work for children, the concert is enjoyable for adults. The "Electronic Dance Transformer opened the 1985 national Imagination Celebration activities in the Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. with eleven sold-operformances to enthusiastic audiences of children and adults alike. The concert showcases a collaborative effort involving ut the talents Utah of artists choreographers many Joan bury and Shirley writer Emma fine including Wood- Ririe, Lou Thayn, and Mark Jackman composer graphic designers Julia La Pine and Tracy OVery. Donald A. Moore, executive director of DanceUSA in a letter to the dance group after seeing (Continued on Page 5B) |