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Bands bringing jazz to the village

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CEDARVILLE — Jazz bands from Cedarville High School and Cedarville University are collaborating to perform 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 10 at the Cedarville Opera House, 70 North Main Street.

Doors for the annual February favorite open 7 p.m. Tickets are $10 for adults and $8 for students and seniors, available at the door or at cedarvilleoperahouse.org. A $35 maximum ticket is available for immediate family members only. Cash and credit cards are accepted at the door. The opera house has a ramp and a chairlift for persons with mobility needs.

The Cedarville High School Jazz Band, directed by Jason Mahan, will perform a variety of jazz and rock standards including “Don’t Stop Believin’” and “It Don’t Mean a Thing If It Ain’t Got That Swing” with vocalist Maddie Bigham.

“It is always a highlight of our year to share the stage with the CU Jazz Band at the Opera House. Two great jazz bands heating up the room and blowing down the walls … it is a big concert for our little village,” Mahan, who also teaches music at CHS, said.

According to Chet Jenkins, jazz band director and assistant professor of music at Cedarville University, his band will take on a Valentine’s Day theme with vocalists featured in tunes like “I Love Being Here with You,” “All I Do is Dream of You,” and “You’re Nobody Till Somebody Loves You.” The band will also play the Count Basie Orchestra’s arrangement of the Ray Charles classic, “I Can’t Stop Loving You.”

The university band will also feature the music of jazz greats Thelonious Monk, Wes Montgomery, and Oliver Nelson, plus a new arrangement of the Henry Mancini classic, “The Pink Panther.”

“We always look forward to this concert. Sharing the stage with the high school band here is a lot of fun, and I think it’s great interaction for both groups. I know I see trading of ideas and questions all the time between the high school and college kids as we rehearse for our combined numbers at the end, and I think that’s an important aspect to this,” Jenkins said.

The high school band will begin the concert, followed by intermission and then the university band. The two are expected to perform a song together to close the concert.

“It’s a shared event, and I think we’re able to help make each other better,” Jenkins said. “I think Jason does a great job with his kids, and we’ve had several students from Cedarville High School who came across the street to the university and played in our band as well. So it’s a testament to the great work he’s doing there to get them prepped for our program.”

For more information, visit cedarvilleoperahouse.org.

By Anna Bolton

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Contact Anna Bolton at 937-502-4498 or follow @annadbolton on Facebook.