Cooper's success shows middle school jazz ensembles can compete

The Cooper Middle School jazz ensemble drew a standing-room-only crowd Saturday for its performance at the Jazz in the Meadows festival at Rolling Meadows High School.

And why shouldn't it? The band from the Buffalo Grove school was the six-time defending champion in the middle school category, having won the title 11 times over the event's previous 24 years.

This year, the students made it seven in a row, and an even dozen overall.

While much of the attention at the annual festival goes to high school ensembles - Warren Township High School was named grand champion and Wheeling won in Class 3A - middle school jazz bands are growing in number and in strength, says Chris Buti, Rolling Meadows High School band director.

"We're beginning to attract middle schools from throughout the Midwest," he says. "The latest one to enter was from Missouri."

Cooper defended its top billing among the 15 middle schools that performed, building on a first-place win in January at the North Shore Jazz Festival.

Among their competitors were Holmes Middle School in Wheeling, Lincoln and River Trail middle schools in Mount Prospect and Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights, as well as schools from Missouri, Indiana, Iowa and Wisconsin.

Their set featured multiple soloists, including eighth-grader Peter Kotecki of Buffalo Grove, who carried the ensemble with his lead solo on baritone saxophone during the aptly named chart "Bari Good."

The entire saxophone section grouped around the microphone for their big swing chart that closed the set with "Big John's Special."

Director Cindy Severino has picked up where her predecessor, Jack Majure, left off in building a strong jazz program at Cooper. The school offers two levels of jazz bands for students and multiple performance opportunities. Later this month, she will direct the Cougars in the Mundelein Jazz Festival.

"It's very motivational to get ready for these contests," Severino says. "The students learn to work together and support each other. It develops this real sense of camaraderie."

Their success has encouraged other schools in Wheeling Township Elementary District 21 to perform in jazz contests. For the first time, Holmes Middle School took its jazz band to the North Shore Jazz Festival as a tuneup for Jazz in the Meadows.

Buti says the increasing number of middle schools playing high-level jazz music reflects the growth in the medium overall.

"A couple of years ago we had to add more (competition) classes for schools bringing second jazz bands and even second combos," Buti says. "We're pretty much at our limit in terms of how many classrooms we're using and how many performance venues (eight).

"I just hope that at the end of the day they walk out of here with a renewed interest in jazz and a real passion to perform," he adds.