If this story was about anything but jazz and big-band music played by high schoolers, we could say the Osceola County School for the Arts already-accomplished Jazz A and Wind Ensembles closed out the school year with a bang.<\/p>\n
But this is music, so we\u2019ll use their own words to say they went out with \u201ca swingin\u2019 sound.\u201d<\/p>\n
You\u2019ve likely heard much about OCSA\u2019s Jazz A Ensemble, which has made an annual tradition of qualifying for, and earning high honors at, the International Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Festival in New York, this year held April 30-May 2 at the iconic Lincoln Center.<\/p>\n
Three weeks before that, OCSA\u2019s Wind Ensemble earned a spot in the President\u2019s Cup National High School Concert Band Invitational April 15-18 at the Hylton Performing Arts Center at George Mason University just outside of Washington, D.C. They made the most of the opportunity, being selected for the most outstanding overall performance.<\/p>\n
Not to be outdone, the jazz band, directed by Jason Anderson, qualified for Essentially Ellington for the fifth year in a row, and earned its third First Place Championship and first since 2023.<\/p>\n
Bands don\u2019t get in simply on reputation; OCSA\u2019s jazz band was third place last year, and the school that took first place in 2025 wasn\u2019t even one of the 20 selected among the 119 that sent in audition recordings.<\/p>\n
The Wind Ensemble was one of only eight bands chosen for the President\u2019s Cup, based on straight Superior ratings earned at last year\u2019s Music Performance Assessments (MPAs).<\/p>\n
At the competition, part of the celebration of 250th anniversary of the 1776 signing of the Declaration of Independence, the students collaborated and performed with the U.S. Army Band. Alto saxophonist Madyson Cordero and flutist Olivia Jones played with the Army band.<\/p>\n
In competition the ensemble, directed by 13-year OCSA veteran Bill Molineaux, played \u201cRevolutionary\u201d by Andrew Boysen, Jr., a piece all eight bands played, along with its own selection, \u201cFoundation\u201d by Mark Camphouse.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile there was a lot of \u2018Wow factor,\u2019 they played beautifully,\u201d Molineaux said. \u201cThe way they played was impactful, and what they earned shows the amount of talent they have.\u201d<\/p>\n
Sophomore oboe player Frankie Molineaux and director\u2019s son, said that while the ensemble has performed in competitive settings extensively, there was an added feeling of competitive edge at George Mason.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it was over I had a feeling of \u2018mission accomplished,\u201d he said. \u201c(Bill) pushed us to be ready leading up to the concert.\u201d<\/p>\n
The Ensemble returned from Washington D.C. in time to perform at this year\u2019s MPAs\u2014 and earned another clean sheet of Superior ratings.<\/p>\n
At Essentially Ellington, the Jazz ensemble earned Outstanding Rhythm Section and Outstanding Trumpet Section honors among the 20 competing bands en route to being named top band and bringing home the trophy and the $5,000 prize that comes with it.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year\u2019s competition was the most competitive in Essentially Ellington history,\u201d said Managing and Artistic Director of Jazz at Lincoln Center Wynton Marsalis.<\/p>\n
Individual awards went to Xavier Anderson and Rafael Alvarez Gonzalez (trumpet), Brett Levin and Danial Browne (trombone), Luis Fernandez Guzman (clarinet), David Eduardo Obregon (guitar), Diego Aviles-Martinez (drums) and Sonialynn Jackson (congas).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe do so many of these that I think the kids get comfortable playing on a stage like that,\u201d Anderson said. \u201cThis group is able to just go up there and be themselves in the moment and in the music. (Duke) Ellington wrote for people, not for the music, and we keep that alive here. We play tunes that we connect with, and that\u2019s what we put into our auditions.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u2019re very used to being in front of an audience \u2026 just with this, all the jazz greats are staring right at them. When we\u2019re there I just focus on if they can play their very best, the way I know they\u2019re capable. They played the best they\u2019ve played, hands down.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think it\u2019s more stressful for Mr. J than it is for any of us,\u201d said Jackson, a junior who performed at Essentially Ellington for the third time. \u201cHe\u2019s teaching three other bands as well. But we all have this want to sound great as a group. I was nervous, but this is such a great group of people to play with. Winning was so surreal, it was so great sharing it with these people in this band.\u201d<\/p>\n
Xavier Anderson, another junior and director\u2019s son, said the band\u2019s been together so long that they worked out their nerves backstage and were really relaxed once on stage.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis year there was a different vibe, we had jam sessions with some of the other bands, so we were really relaxed when it came time to perform,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Jason Anderson said he\u2019s already thinking about next year\u2019s Ellington, despite losing some seniors from this year\u2019s band. Three of them\u2014horn players Luis Fernandez, Jann Xiques and Bella Ramirez, along with junior Aviles-Martinez, are in both ensembles that achieved victory, and reflected on their third or fourth trip to Lincoln Center.<\/p>\n
\u201cWas there pressure? Yeah, but we were also there to have fun and perform with each other,\u201d Ramirez said. \u201cThat\u2019s what gave the vibe. This whole year\u2019s gone by really fast.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cThe only pressure was not to have regrets,\u201d Fernandez said. \u201cThey announced we won and it was a shock that took a moment sink in. We had a lot of people going for the first time and I wanted them to have a great experience.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen it was over, I thought it was the best we could\u2019ve played,\u201d Xiques said, echoing the director\u2019s thoughts. \u201cThat was the way to go out if it was the last time we\u2019d play together.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"If this story was about anything but jazz and big-band music played by high schoolers, we could say…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":271409,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[139,141,140],"class_list":["post-271408","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271408","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=271408"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/271408\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/271409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=271408"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=271408"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=271408"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}