Region – Patrick Hughes, a senior in the Culinary Arts program at Assabet Valley Regional Technical High School, was recently awarded the Judges’ Choice Award for best performance in his group at the Berklee High School Jazz Festival at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston Jan. 31. Hughes is a trumpet player, and lives in Clinton.
Eleven students competed in the event, the largest high school jazz music festival in the country, led by Derek Tenzar, Assabet’s music instructor. The students that participated were Nicole Zwicker of Berlin; Patrick Hughes, Edward Eubank, and Jenna Frieburger, all from Clinton; Jennifer Moore of Hudson; Lauren Quinn and Jarrod Beauchemin, from Marlborough; Melissa Sommer of Maynard; and Stephen Dymek, from Leicester. Tim Mauro, of Marlborough, was the alternate player, and Zachary Baldino, of Shrewsbury, worked the sound.
These members of Assabet’s jazz combo, known as the “Dominant Sharp Nine,” performed “Now’s the Time,” “Blue Moon,” and “The Blues Walk” for a panel of three judges and was provided feedback after the performance. While at the festival, the students had the opportunity to attend performances by the Boston City Music High School Academy, Bloomington Indiana High School North Advanced Jazz Ensemble, Kneebody, the top large bands in each category, and Berklee College of Music’s top Big Band known as the “Berklee Rainbow Band.”
