In March of 2007 the St. John’s Prep Jazz Ensemble traveled from their home in the Boston, MA area on a concert tour to New Orleans. The students had an amazing journey to one of the country’s most musical cities. It was an emotional tour where students saw firsthand the aftermath of destruction from Hurricane Katrina. It was also a fun and exciting tour where the boys fed alligators, cruised the Mississippi River, and explored the French Quarter. But most of all the tour was a musically enriching one. New Orleans is full of music and musicians. The students joined in the New Orleans tradition of open air concerts and performed for a local audience in famous Jackson Square. They spent a day in workshops at the University of New Orleans with the renowned faculty of Jazz Musicians, and performed at the New Orleans Jazz National Historical Park in the French Quarter alongside the park’s talented musician rangers. The students also enjoyed many live jazz performances, including a night at the famous Preservation Hall.
It was a wonderful learning and enriching experience and it was great to be back in the birthplace of Jazz!