CSM hosts high school jazz

Local Bay Area high schools showed off their musical talent on Nov. 18 in the 15th Annual Jazz Festival.

The performance featured 18 of the top high school jazz bands in the Bay Area including Mills High School, San Mateo High School, Acalanes High School and Homestead High School.

All the performing high schools were given 30 minutes of performance time to entertain the crowd.

All the schools played on stage in the CSM theater for an audience so packed, many people attending had to sit on the stairway leading to the theater seats. Even outside, students' instruments overflowed the theater lobby while they waited for their turn to jam out.

Gabe Carhart,18, a drummer from Half Moon Bay was among the performers.

He played the drums for his high school while they performed a few numbers, including "Late Night Dinner" and "High Impact."

"One of our band members was late, but we still went on," he said. "I think (the Jazz Festival) is a great chance for high schools to watch each other."

Siobhan Bauer, 17, found her first year at the jazz festival to be a "more relaxed" event in relation to other performances, she said.

She played the alto saxophone, soprano saxophone and the clarinet in her performance.

"Changing an instrument for each song was a little stressful," she said.

While students had been the main showcase, the music directors of each high school performed in the Monday Evening Jazz Ensemble.

The Monday Evening Jazz Ensemble had the opportunity to play with Grammy winning saxophonist Tom Scott. Workshops were also offered. A saxophone workshop was led by Tom Scott, who spoke about his experience in the music business. A rhythm section workshop also provided information on being a successful rhythm section of a jazz band.

Mike Galisatus, CSM music professor, organized the event."We started out as a small festival with about eight bands," he said. "Now we're maxed out."

"We started out as a small festival with about seven or eight bands," he said. "Now we're maxed out."