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| School jazz band wins first place at festival The Cedar Drive Middle School Jazz Band, under the direction of Denise Ridoux, recently won "Best Overall Jazz Ensemble" in the Hershey Park Band Festival against middle school and high school jazz bands along the East Coast. In addition to winning "Best Overall Jazz Ensemble" with the highest possible rating of "superior, " the Cedar Drive Jazz Band also won first place in the Middle School Jazz Division. The Cedar Drive Colt Band received second place in its division, according to a press release. "The 2011 Hershey Park Band Festival marks the 31st year that Cedar Drive Middle School has participated, " Ridoux said. Before Ridoux implemented the Jazz Program in 2002, the Colt Band, a larger band with a more general music focus, had received numerous awards over the years. "The Jazz Band entered its first Hershey Park Band Festival in 2008 and since then they have consistently placed first in their division and in the past have won the 'Best Overall Jazz Ensemble' award, " Ridoux said. "This year, however, the Jazz Band reached a new performance level by not only winning the overall award, but doing so with the highest possible rating of superior." The Hershey Park Band Festival is part of the Music in the Parks program, which was founded in 1980 to "bring together students and adjudicators in a positive learning environment that will inspire students to strive not only for excellence, but to make music a lifelong activity, " according to a statement on the organization's website. The Cedar Drive Jazz Band is comprised of 26 sixth-, seventh- and eighth-grade students, and the Colt Band is comprised of 50 pupils. All musicians had to pass an audition to participate in either band, and many students play for both bands. Ridoux received a Bachelor of Music Education from Shenandoah Conservatory of Music in Winchester, Va., and a Master of Education in Music from The College of New Jersey. She has taught elementary, secondary and college level instrumental music since 1990. "The few minutes of excellence we produce each year at the Hershey Park Band Festival is our reward for all the efforts leading up to this annual event, " Ridoux said. write your comments about the article :: © 2011 Jazz News :: home page |