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| Members of Nipmuc's Gold Medal Winning Jazz Ensemble |
Congratulations to Mr. Harding and the 19 students who recently participated in the Massachusetts Association of Jazz Educators State Finals. The group took home the gold medal, distinguishing themselves as one of the best high school jazz ensembles in the state. In addition, three Nipmuc students - Isabel DesRoches, Megan Mathieson, and Aiden Thieme - took home Outstanding Musicianship Awards from the competition. The ensemble will now have the chance to perform with other state gold medalists in May. Included below are responses from the students about their experiences in the competition.
Click here to listen to the jazz band's performance from district festival held on March 4. (music begins after the brief intro ~50 seconds into the recording...
what a performance!)
Brett Alibozek
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. Throughout my four years of jazz band, we came so close to winning every year. To win a gold medal at states in my last year was the most exciting part, and an experience I will always remember.
Tim Brien
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. I was one of two people, along with Kurt Robakiewicz, standing on the side of the auditorium waiting to accept our group's award. And I have to say that the most exciting part by far of winning the gold medal was simply hearing the word gold and looking back at the jazz band and seeing all of their faces. There were really only 2 looks - pure shock and pure excitement. None of us had expected this medal because we thought we were about equal to our jazz band last year when we received a middle score silver. Coming back with the gold medal was almost surreal.
Scott Capuzziello
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting part was the intense waiting when our school found out what medal we received. In the middle of our performance when we have a real good section and everything sounds good and flows smoothly, it's feels good and knowing all our hard work paid off in the end.
Jesse Charpentier
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting part of winning the gold medal was, in my senior year, being able to set a precedent of greatness for the Nipmuc Jazz program.
Sam Crocker
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. That the journey had finally paid off. All the rehearsals and time practicing at home was rewarded in that moment.
Isabel DesRoches
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting part of winning a gold medal at the MAJE state competition was knowing that our intense, hard work paid off. Mr. Harding pushed us to our limits during each rehearsal, and although some of us loathed him for that, the time and effort were certainly worth it. The gold medal validated to us, and those who don't know much about our music program, that what we do and love is great.
Q. What does it means to you to be recognized for outstanding musicianship at the competition?
A. Being recognized for outstanding musicianship at the MAJE State Finals competition gave me a huge boost of confidence. Unlike Megan and Aiden, the instrument I play in jazz band (bass) is my secondary instrument, and I have played it for less than two years. I was honestly shocked that I was recognized for the same level of musicianship as musicians that have been mastering their instruments for 6 or 7 years. I felt like the calloused fingers, cramped hands, and intense work were all worth it. In addition, it was pretty cool to share this experience with Megan, who has been my best friend since we met at piano lessons before kindergarten. We spend days during the summer practicing together, so sharing such an honorable recognition with her seems fitting.
Megan Mathieson
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state finals competition was that we had all worked so hard to prepare for the competition. It was amazing to have our work pay off and to be able to share the experience together.
Q. What does it means to you to be recognized for outstanding musicianship at the competition?
A. Jazz band is really important to me, and I was really honored and excited to receive the outstanding musicianship award. Misters Ron Lewis, Mike Morel and Simon Harding have had a lot of faith in me and have dedicated a lot of their time in helping me to be a better jazz player. Jazz music is a group effort, and it took every single person's work to get the gold medal. I'm lucky to play with such a talented, fun group of people.
Cameron McCulloch
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. From what I know, we are the first Nipmuc Jazz ensemble to get gold in state finals. That has to be the most exciting part, knowing that we made "Nipmuc history". It is something special and I'm glad I got to be a part of it.
Elizabeth Nigro
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. It was really exciting to win the gold medal because it showed us that hard work pays off. We've rehearsed two to three days a week all year, and we were thrilled when we got to move on to state finals. I'm so happy that I finally got gold as a senior!
Matt O’Brien
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting part of earning a gold medal at State Finals is the satisfaction that comes along with knowing we are finally victorious. After attaining a silver medal last year, we came into this year more energized than ever. By earning this gold medal, Nipmuc Jazz is finally on the map.
Eoin O’Connell
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting thing about winning a gold medal at the MAJE State finals was knowing that we worked hard to get our songs to sound as good as we could, and that we can play at a professional venue with other well-known jazz bands. We put a lot of effort in and it's great getting recognized.
Sarah Plunicki
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting part was realizing that all of our hard work and after school practices had paid off. We were competing against some of the best jazz ensembles in the state for a gold medal and it was an amazing experience being in state finals with them all.
Kurt Robakiewicz
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting part of winning the gold medal at MAJE was knowing that all of our hard work leading up to the MAJE competitions paid off in the end and it is so rewarding to know that we are the first Nipmuc Jazz Band to ever achieve this goal.
James Rogan
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. I would say the most exciting part was hearing the announcer announce that we had received a gold medal. Everyone was so happy that our work finally paid off in a big way.
Trenton Ryder
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting part was the fact that we won gold. I honestly did not think that we won a gold medal. The stage that we performed on was difficult for the performers in the respect that it sounded very different to us, on stage, then to the audience members. To us, the band sounded unbalanced and I was under the impression that it was the same to the audience members. Later we found out that it sounded completely different to the judges and audience. Winning gold was an unexpected, pleasant surprise.
Alison Slavin
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting part of MAJE was when they told us that we had won a gold medal. This was because we would get the opportunity to play again as a group, outside of the school district.
Aram Taft
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. Honestly the performance went great but I was surprised we got a gold medal, we had a few hiccups in the solo sections but other than that we did quite well for how much we practiced in the weeks prior. The most exciting part was that with that gold medal is we will now move on to perform in a featured hall with the other gold medalists.
Aiden Thieme
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. I think the part I found most exciting about getting a gold medal was just the explosion of happiness that shot through every member of the band. We were all overwhelmed. Everybody in the band worked so hard this year to get there, and winning knowing that your work paid off, it's a feeling you can't do justice with words. And it's moments like these that allow you to take a second and go "Wow, I love what I do."
Q. What does it means to you to be recognized for outstanding musicianship at the competition?
A. It meant a whole lot to have been given the outstanding musicianship award at the festival! I always feels great when a judge, who had probably never heard you play before, enjoys your playing enough to award you with an honor like that.
Matt Verrone
Q. What was the most exciting part of winning the gold medal at the MAJE state competition?
A. The most exciting part of winning the MAJE state competition was the anticipation leading up to the announcement of how we placed.
