Hampton Bays High School Presents First Jazz Night

Don’t miss out on the inaugural Hampton Bays High School’s Jazz Night happening tomorrow night, February 23 at 7 p.m. The event, which will take place at the school (88 East Argonne Road) in Hampton Bays, is a jazz concert that will be open to the community, and will include performances consisting of not only student musicians, but highly respected guest educators and performers.

“Music offers students lessons in collaboration, time management, perseverance, organization, discipline,” says Mark Stuckey, Hampton Bays Middle School music teacher and organizer of Jazz Night, “…it exposes you to history and culture, improves comprehension skills, strengthens math skills and promotes self-expression—music is a pretty powerful tool that is not only enjoyable to the ear and mind, but the lessons are applicable to all you do in life and hope to find success in.”

Jazz Night features instrumental and vocal jazz musicians from both Hampton Bays Middle School and Hampton Bays High School, who are going to be performing with Lauren Sevian, an award-winning baritone saxophonist, and Stephen Gleason, the director of Vocal Jazz and a professor at Five Towns College. Along with these performers, there will be an 18-member jazz ensemble with professional musicians and music educators from around Long Island. This evening of fine music will end with students taking the stage a second time, and sharing it with the adult jazz ensemble for the final performance.

The unique concert focuses on jazz since the genre is “one of America’s only true original art forms,” Stuckey says, “There are carefully constructed melodies, intricate harmonies, challenging rhythms, thought-provoking chord progressions and personalized improvised solos,” he continued.

There are more than 400 seats available to the public for Jazz Night, and tickets are free of charge, though donations are welcome as the funds will be used to support future Hampton Bays School District musical endeavors.

For more information, go to hbschools.us.