Matthew is in the jazz choir at the high school this year. The jazz choir is one of the two top level audition choirs and honestly, it has become the highlight of Matthew’s school days. Band has been different this year. With all his close friends gone and with some new, negative vibes associated with the ever changing dynamic common in high school performing groups due to the continually rotating membership, band is no longer a refuge. It is a huge stressor. And so, the choir room has become his safe place and the friends he has made in choir have become his preferred company.
The jazz choir is different from the other choirs in several ways. First of all, and most obviously, they exclusively sing jazz music in many different styles. Second, group singing is the focus only part of the time. Each term every student selects and prepares a jazz solo of some type to be performance ready. They didn’t have a performance for first term, which is a shame, but this term’s performance was this evening.
All the selections for this term were Christmas tunes. The performance was held in the choir room rather than the auditorium which lent the entire affair the intimacy of a jazz club setting rather than standard large choir feel. The group numbers were interspersed with the solos which ranged from lovely ballads to upbeat Christmas standards to downright silly holiday tunes. The kids had the opportunity to be accompanied by a standard jazz combo (piano, string bass, drums) and for some of them, I think this was their first experience singing with a combo. Matthew got to play his trumpet for one number as well and since he is a band kid as well as a choir kid, he was deeply involved in the coordination of the combo which included the band teacher on drums, one of the jazz band bass players, and one of the jazz band pianists, who is also in the jazz choir. Nearly all the selections were songs I am familiar with, and it was an absolutely delightful way to spend an evening.
This school year has been a tough one for Matthew so far, but this evening he was filled with joy and light. And it was obvious when he sang. The choir teacher will never know just how much Matthew needed to be in this group this year. And it’s not about the music. It’s about the kids. And the safe place to be himself. And it’s about the joy that he hasn’t found anywhere else this year.
