🎧Students bring energy and rhythm to Burlington’s Discover Jazz Festival

Via Community News Service, a University of Vermont journalism internship, and Report for America

DUXBURY — Students in Crossett Brook Middle School’s jazz band filed into the music room just before 8 a.m. on June 3, yawning in between greetings to their friends. Instrument cases and music stands were scattered across the floor. It was time for their last rehearsal before their performance at the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival the following day.

Produced by the Flynn, the Burlington Discover Jazz Festival is an annual event where local, national and international musicians perform across various venues in Burlington, celebrating jazz as a music genre and art form. 

More than two dozen Vermont and New York middle and high schools are taking part this year, with Crossett Brook Middle School among them. The festival runs through June 7. 

The jazz band practices twice a week before school throughout the year, said Sam Mishkin, the band director. The students have been practicing their pieces for jazz fest since January. 

“You start out, it doesn’t sound like music, and then you work, and it becomes something totally different. It’s fun to watch that growth,” Mishkin said. 

Some students in the band have performed at the festival before, while others would be taking the stage for the first time. For Emmy Dubois, the performance would mark their third year participating in the festival. 

“It’s one of the best days of the year,” Dubois said. “You just get to walk around Church Street and then play music, and it’s always fun.”

Seventh-grade alto saxophonist Alex Peterson, a festival first-timer, was most excited to play “Superstition” by Stevie Wonder. 

“Right after the main part in the beginning, there’s a thing that the altos play, and it’s fun,” Peterson said. 

Mishkin said it is important for students to have opportunities to perform outside the school building. 

“Seeing other groups play, seeing other experiences, seeing that it’s not just within the four walls of your school is really cool for them,” Mishkin said. 

The work of the band directors, like Mishkin, doesn’t go unnoticed. Isaac Danuloff, a stagehand for the Flynn, said band directors play a critical role in students’ success. 

“The band directors that I witnessed are so phenomenal,” Danuloff said. “They just seem like good educators, but part of that is, I think, the kids get treated like professional musicians.”

On Church Street the next day, the band members set up their equipment as Burlington resident Rich Batchelder parked his orange mobility scooter just a few feet from the stage. Even after living in the city for 30 years, Batchelder had never attended the festival before. He said it’s important for students to be involved in events like jazz fest. 

“Youth inherit the Earth. They’re our future,” Batchelder said. 

A crowd slowly formed behind Batchelder’s chair as the students took their places. Danuloff introduced the band, and the beginning notes of “Superstition” sounded from the stage.