TEMPLE, Texas — Temple High School’s top jazz ensemble, the Temple Highlighters, is adding another high-profile award to the group’s list of achievements for the year. The Highlighters were announced as the national winner of the “Perform With Mintzer” contest, sponsored by Eastman Winds, over the weekend.
The Highlighters submitted a short essay and a video of one of the ensemble’s performances to enter the contest. Director Marcos Duran submitted the same recordings the band entered into the “Essentially Ellington” Festival earlier this year. A panel of judges reviewed the performance, and the Highlighters were chosen as the national winner. By winning the contest, the Highlighters will have legendary jazz performer Bob Mintzer visit the school for a private clinic and on-stage performance with the group. The Highlighters will also receive the judge’s adjudication forms with notes and suggestions to help the already talented group continue to develop and improve.
“I’m not sure the kids understood what it meant at first because it was all so new to them,” Duran said. “Then, I started listing his credentials. I told them that he is a professor of jazz at USC, but his real job is to be an International jazz superstar because that’s what he is. He is a 30-year member of the Yellowjackets, he has played on over a thousand recordings, has toured the world and played with almost everyone out there. For me as a teacher, to have someone of Bob Mintzer’s caliber come in and work with our kids is a tremendous opportunity for our program.”
“It is always very interesting to find out we’ve won something,” Abby Hannon, junior trumpet player for the Highlighters said. “It is going to be fun and I am looking forward to the chance to work with someone who does this professionally. He might say something that really sparks something for me as I continue with my pursuit of music.”
Mintzer is a saxophonist, arranger and educator who holds the Barbara and Buzz McCoy endowed chair at the University of Southern California’s (USC) Thornton School of Music. He is also a thirty-year member of the Yellowjackets and chief conductor of the WDR Big Band in Cologne, Germany. Mintzer has written over 500 big band arrangements, several jazz study books, orchestral and chamber works and has received over 15 Grammy nominations for his solo projects and work with the Yellowjackets. The members of the Highlighters are enjoying the recognition and celebrating their accomplishment but are also looking forward to the chance to clinic with and perform with Mintzer.
“It means a lot to me because it is that much more experience,” Bryshaun Dickson, sophomore drummer for the Highlighters said. “It is something else that can really help me improve and make me feel good because this is something I want to pursue as a career. I am very appreciative because I just love this program.”
“I just know that I enjoy the music he has composed and that he is a phenomenal musician,” Luke Hermann, sophomore baritone saxophonist for the Highlighters said. “I am really looking forward to the opportunity to learn from him and I just really want to be present in that moment and enjoy making music with him.”
The date for the clinic and performance with Mintzer is still to be determined since he is currently on tour in Europe. The Highlighters were also selected to perform in the prestigious Charles Mingus Virtual Festival in February. The group was recognized as a National Winner in the Mark of Excellence/National Jazz Honors Project at the beginning of the school year. The latter honor recognized performances by the 2020-2021 edition of the Highlighters.