Last weekend, the Jazz Ensemble welcomed jazz players from the Berklee College of Music for a workshop with our own jazz ensemble. We first performed and then worked through three of our own concert pieces with their band teacher, and then they joined us on stage to help fine-tune our parts section by section. Groton’s trombone section particularly appreciated the bass trombone player Dean from Berklee, as he gave us tips on articulation and breath support for our piece, “Extraordinary.”
Right after, we played through the three pieces as a combined band. The most exciting part of this Sunday afternoon was watching the Berklee band play their specially arranged pieces, with every one of their players having a solo part. Being exposed to a world-class student band was definitely eye-opening, and that compounded on the fact that they were only a few years older than us, which was hard to believe. I hope we can see them again next year! They helped us immensely in preparing for our Spring Concert, which was last night.