MUSICIANS from a Chester school hit the high notes at the Cork International Jazz Festival last weekend.
The Catholic High School swing band, City Jazz Orchestra, has just returned from Ireland, where they played their 40th concert at the festival. The ensemble has travelled to the festival eight times since 2002 and plays regularly at the Imperial Hotel on Cork’s South Mall.
Assistant manager Jim Gunter said: “I took a bit of a risk seven years ago when I was offered a band made up of school kids, but they have won a place in my heart.
“They always perform with such energy and enjoyment, and we know there are customers who come back every year to hear them.”
Fifty students, including instrumentalists, singers and the road crew went on the tour.
A Level student and lead singer Beth Staton said: “The support from the audience, the rest of the band and the teachers is brilliant – and what an opportunity to sing and play at one the world’s top festivals.”
Andy Murray is in his GCSE year at the school and has played trumpet with the band for the last five years in Cork. He said: “Five concerts in three days is just fantastic – it really brings you on as a player.”
The swing band has been running at the school since 1992 under the direction of Kevin Tout and regularly tours to Europe.
Mr Tout said: “Cork is very special to us because the welcome is always so warm, even in October when it’s usually raining.
“What the festival, the Imperial Hotel and the crowds that come in do for us is just incredible. The band always performs to the highest standard, and this festival is the pinnacle for us.”
