The COVID-19 pandemic, state-wide quarantines, and an abrupt end to the school year have had a devastating impact on music education as well as other school programs. Despite these obstacles, virtual classrooms with dedicated students and instructors keep jazz music education alive! Here are a couple of examples of teachers and students making the best of a difficult situation. These videos were brought to our attention from Hall High School (West Hartford) and Whitebrook Middle School (Easthampton, MA).
Hall High School Quarantine Jazz Band performance
Directed by James Antonucci.
Note: The guitarist is Brennen Ravenberg, one of the HJS scholarship winners this year.
Whitebrook Middle School (Easthampton, MA)
This band is conducted by Pat Lennon, who also teaches the award-winning Western Mass jazz band. Pat is also a member of the Hartford Jazz Orchestra and he has performed at our PBMJ series.
