The Idyllwild community and the campus have a unique symbiotic relationship which truly takes a village to be successful.
For the third year in a row, the Idyllwild Arts Jazz Ensemble has captured first place in its category at the Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival in Boston, which took place on Saturday, March 2. Ensemble students are Alex Keller (senior), vocals; Carlos Del Castillo (senior), drums; Inigo Mantecon (senior), bass; Luca Jacaruso (junior), piano and Cameron Smith (sophomore), guitar, continued Idyllwild Arts’ 3-year winning streak.
Cameron was singled out for the Superior Musicianship Award in Idyllwild Arts’ class. Kudos to these six outstanding musicians, as well as to Paul Carman and Marshall Hawkins, their passionate jazz ensemble instructors.
Idyllwild Arts’ first prize was in the S4 Class which is a category for specialized arts schools. The 2013 Berklee High School Jazz Fest, one of two most prestigious such events in the country, involved 5,000 students from 200 schools. Read the full story on page 1.
The other major high school jazz competition takes place April 25 to 27 in Reno, Nev. These same jazz ensemble students will also participate and hopefully defend their 1st place standing from 2012. Stay tuned.
Idyllwild Arts jazz series at Café Aroma
Augmenting the success of Idyllwild Arts’ musicians, local resident, notable musician and music faculty member Paul Carman has developed a series of Jazz Nights showcasing jazz students. The series pairs a few select students with seasoned musicians — Marshall Hawkins, Barnaby Finch and Paul Carman.
“I thought this would give the students experience of performing in a professional setting Playing at Café Aroma has prestige — it’s the Carnegie Hall of Idyllwild,” Carman said.
The series began in February and continues through May and has received an enthusiastic following among the Idyllwild community. “We’ve received very positive feedback,” Carman added. “Everyone loves to support IAA students and to hear them play.”
Annual spring student dance concert
The Idyllwild Dance Department is presenting its annual Spring Dance Concert which is always a highly-anticipated event both in the community and on campus. The Spring Dance Concert will feature 31 dance students performing eight pieces — one full-length act of Igor Stravinsky’s “The Firebird” and seven short pieces.
This year’s event will be comprised of a collaboration of classical and contemporary dance choreography by dance faculty chair Ellen Rosa Taylor, Jonathan Sharp, Stephanie Gilliland, Patrick Frantz, Lauren Smith, Robbie Cook, Hai Cohen, and Iris Pell. One of the short pieces is restaged from Rami Be’er, which was originally created for the Kibbutz Contemporary Dance Company. One of the other pieces is a restaging by Iris Pell of Bella Lewitzky’s “Iris.” The evening promises to be a wonderful celebration of dance.
The Spring Dance Concert will take place Wednesday, Thursday and Friday, March 13 to 15 at Bowman Theatre and, of course, the public is invited to attend this free performance.
