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Jazz

St Andrew’s College has a programme for musicians in Years 7–13, which develops skills and understanding in the Jazz genre.

We are the most successful school in the history of the Southern Jam competition, having won it seven out of fifteen times (as at 2017).  We offer the following jazz groups:

Big Band

Our Big Band is recognised as one of the best bands in New Zealand, which has competed at the National Youth Jazz Festival.  2017 was a very successful year for the St Andrew’s Big Band, with Gold awards at Ara JazzQuest, as well being the Supreme Award winners at the Southern Jam.  We also regularly perform at local jazz festivals around Christchurch, including having our own ‘Jazz Club’ at The Great Hall during the Winter Music Festival. Click here to watch the Big Band perform.

Jazz Orchestra

The Jazz Orchestra is our ‘development’ band, which is open to all Year 7–13 musicians who would like to be part of a jazz experience.

This band competes the Southern Jam and Ara JazzQuest, in addition to performing in the Christchurch Big Band Festival. Click here to watch the Jazz Orchestra perform.

Jazz Combo

For elite jazz musicians in the school we have a traditional Jazz Combo, which performs difficult swing repertoire at a high level.  All musicians are exceptional improvisers who compete in the Ara JazzQuest and perform at our ‘Jazz Club’. Click here to watch the Jazz Combo perform.

Soul Band

Featuring four of the school’s top ‘contemporary’ vocalists, the Soul Band takes pop and jazz repertoire and arranges the music with their own take of the Soul genre. Click here to watch the Soul Band perform.

Successes

At the 2019 ARA JazzQuest competition, our Big Band and Soul Band won gold medals.The Bug Band were also the festival winners at Southern Jam.