Amid the hoo-rah in the stands and the domination on the field during “Friday Night Lights”, the blare of the trumpets and whistle of flutes stole the show. This past football season, the Rye High School Jazz Band served as the de facto “halftime show”, performing seasonal duty as a temporary “pep” band.
Led by Mr. Schwirian, Rye Middle School band teacher and Music Department Coordinator, the jazz band played a variety of music ranging from 2010’s pop to 80’s funk at the fall football games. For years the band has been an extracurricular option for Rye High School students, not only composed of band and orchestra students, but also those who aren’t taking any music classes. In this way, the jazz band bridges the gap between academics and the arts at Rye High School, allowing for students to pursue their musical interests outside the classroom.
As the Garnet football team battled the rival Huskies at the annual Rye-Harrison game on October 24, the jazz band delivered its final football halftime show of the year. memorable when Sophomore Luke Padovano finished it off with an electric “Freebird” solo on his classic Gibson Les Paul guitar, leading to cheers from the Rye sideline.
The jazz band does not just perform at football games,though. As the transition from fall to winter takes place, so too does the transition from “pep” band to procedural jazz band. Throughout the school year, the band can be found performing in the middle school multipurpose room, a repertoire that tends to consist of jazz, latin music, rock and roll, and everything in between.
Last year, the band’s only extracurricular show took place at a PTO meeting at the Apawamis Club; this year, however band leader year there are talks of competing for the first time in the program’s history.
“Our hope is to showcase the hard work of our students through the medium of jazz,” Schwirian said.
The band’s first performance since the football season took place at the Board of Education meeting on December 2nd. The band’s next performance is at the Capitol Theater in Port Chester, a simultaneous jazz competition.
