On March 22nd, District 117 hosted Jazz Night 2023 in the LCHS Commons. In addition to listening to music performed on two separate stages, parents, family, and friends also enjoyed the full dinner that came with the price of admission.
The first two groups to open the event were the Palombi Middle School Jazz Band and the Antioch Upper Grade School Jazz Band.
After our feeder schools performed, the ACHS Jazz Band and ACHS Cardinal and Grey Vocal Jazz Choir performed a set of standard swing tunes.
For the final sets of the night, our very own Lakes students performed. First the Improv Club performed Herbie Hancock’s “Watermelon Man.” Following Improv, the LCHS Jazz Lab Band, the Vocal Jazz Choir performed sets. The final set of the night came from the LCHS Jazz Ensemble, accompanied by guest artist, saxophone player and jazz educator Neil Carson.
“This was the 18th annual Jazz Night at Lakes and proved to be a triumphant return to this format after the pandemic. Over the years the event has evolved, but this year’s effort to make it a Summer Lesson fundraising dinner really made it take on a new life. I am so proud of our students, staff and parents for all the work they did to make this happen,” Lakes Fine Arts Department Chair Matthew Kastor said.
Big time shoutouts to Elliot Hile for all his organizational work and Kyle Bush for the technical support. Thanks to Katie Bush, Trey Hickey, Kyle Rayome and Jonathan Untch for their collaboration. We also want to thank our two junior high directors, Renee Brown and Brendan Frank for their participation.
