By Norah Jewett ’25
The Beverly High Jazz Band is often regarded by many as one of the high school’s most impressive musical groups. Composed of 20 musicians this year, the jazz band is a highly selective audition based group that meets every other school day for 84 minutes. Since COVID, the jazz band has seemed to have gotten better and better each year.
Back on March 5th, the jazz band had gotten gold in competition at Massachusetts Association for Jazz Education (MAJE) Northeastern District Senior Festival. A few weeks later, they received gold at the MAJE State Finals, which secured them the opportunity to play at the Hatch Shell, the famous music venue in Boston, in a Gold Medal Showcase. This is only the second time this feat has been achieved in Beverly High Music Department history.
The jazz band performed this past Sunday, May 4th, after coming directly from the music department’s annual music trip. Departing from Washington D.C. (this year’s trip location) at 6AM, the music department arrived in Boston just after 3PM in time to unload the jazz musicians for their performance.
Several jazz band members spoke about this opportunity.
“Coming from D.C., it was a very chaotic experience,” laughs trumpet player Carli Moran (‘27).
Junior alto saxophonist Keith McCaw (‘26) also touches on the struggles of making this performance happen after a 5-day long trip out of state.
“I was so tired I don’t think I could fully process [the gig],” he shares.
But despite running on less than five hours of sleep, the jazz band still brought their all to this showcase. Many touch on their amazement of the venue.
“I didn’t realize how big the area would be, but it was cool knowing that people of such renown have played there,” says senior trombonist Tara MacNeil (‘25). “It was awesome to get to play at such a high level where the bands we were playing alongside were incredibly talented.”
Eamonn Conolly (‘27), one of the trumpet players of the group, shared that “the acoustics were excellent” and that “you could hear the bands from several blocks away.”
The acoustics of the venue were touched on by several jazz band members. The Hatch Shell’s shape greatly amplifies the sound produced on stage, throwing it out onto the streets of Boston.
“We could hear ourselves echoing off of the John Hancock Building,” laughs alto saxophonist Cadyn Hollingsworth (‘25)
Across the board, several members remarked on the uniqueness of this opportunity.
“This was a once and a lifetime opportunity to perform,” says pianist Lydia Betts. “People like the Boston Pops have performed there and it’s right in the center of Boston.”
“It’s kinda weird because I know the Hatch Shell is such a famous place, but it felt like just another gig, but it’s crazy that I got to play there,” McCaw shares.
Others touch on the community built through music.
Moran remarks how, “it was amazing getting to play and bond over music that way.”
Band Director Adam Costa shares his thoughts on the opportunity.
“Given that MAJE established the Gold Medal Showcase at the Hatch Shell nearly 40 years ago and this was only the second time in BHS Music Dept. history that our jazz band made it that far– and the first time since 2010– I was particularly proud of the dedicated effort our jazz band members put into our repertoire over the past four months as they progressed from a gold medal rating in regional competition to then achieving the same result at the state level where the stakes were significantly higher and the competition was much more cutthroat.
“More than anything though, I think that this entire process– from starting the rehearsal process to playing in Boston yesterday– was something that has made our band more unified in purpose and raised the bar for what we can accomplish in the years to come.”
The 2024-2025 Beverly High Jazz Band has just set a new precedent for future ensembles through their continuous hard work and time put into this group. If you’re interested in hearing the award-winning jazz band in person, they will be performing at Lynch Park on June 6th for Jazz in the Park!
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