While most students will be preparing for school in the morning, the ensemble choir and jazz band will instead prep for their first ever live performance on TV, Dec. 6.
Sometime between 8:25 and 8:55 A.M., the 15-member high school jazz band and their conductor, James Loomis, will perform during the popular morning TV show, Great Day, on KMPH Fox 26.
Manuel Bonilla, one of the producers of Great Day, is a childhood friend of Loomis. They attended junior high and high school together and graduated from Fresno Pacific University in ’04. During a conversation concerning Rock These Walls, Bonilla invited the school?s jazz band to perform live on Great Day.
Loomis has taught jazz band for three years, along with elementary band, junior high band, junior high jazz band and high school concert band. He looks forward to his group’s television debut.
?It is an exciting opportunity for the jazz band and Fresno Christian,? Loomis said. ?We don?t get to perform for a Valley-wide audience every day! When I was in high school, I had an opportunity to perform on television. It was a lot of fun. We were really nervous but had a great time and a lot of people saw us!?
Joshua Smith, ?11, a trumpet player and first-time jazz band member, believes the television presentation gives students an occasion to showcase their individual talents.
?We are going to be on TV all morning and it?s a great opportunity to see the jazz band perform,? Smith said. ?I enjoy jazz band because we sound good and it is fun playing music.?
Loomis finds jazz to be his favorite type of music and looks to the inventive aspect of the genre for inspiration and enjoyment.
?Jazz music has so many more opportunities to be creative,? Loomis said. ?It allows the performer to have fun, to be expressive, and to get the audience excited about music.?
Sydney Carlson, ?11, returning percussion player in jazz band, believes this opportunity will help her learn to cope with nerves in front of an audience.
?I am looking forward to the performance because it?s going to be on the news and it will be a good experience to perform in front of a lot of people,? Carlson said.
Others see their TV performance as a chance to present their music through teamwork and God.
?I am definitely looking forward to the performance,? junior Trevor Bodi, lead guitar, said. ?The whole band will be able to show our talent as one musical body. It is a time for God?s glory to shine through the band and me, seriously.?
The jazz band will be playing the Christmas songs ?Santa Clause is Coming to Town”, “Frosty the Snowman”, and ?Big Band Holiday.?
The jazz band will be joined by the 21-member high school ensemble choir, lead by Aaron Bryan and accompanied by Aarne Kela. They will sing, ?Tomorrow Shall Be My Dancing Day?, and ?The 12 Days of Christmas” from around 9-10 A.M.
“I am excited to not only promote our upcoming Christmas concert, but also to keep our school’s name in the public eye,” Bryan said. “It is my hope that this event encourages people to come out and support our students. These kids work hard all year long and they deserve all the recognition.”
The jazz band and choir, along with the combined junior and senior high concert bands, will perform on Dec. 10 for their annual Christmas concert at the Riverpark Bible Church.
