---

The Jazz Band preforming at their fall semester concert back in December.
@MCMUSICANDTHEATRE / COURTESY

---

By Anna Segota, Staff Writer

Manhattan College’s many music programs are gearing up for the spring semester, including the Jazz Band, which currently has a record-high group size. 

The jazz band, led by director Geoffrey Mattoon, has experienced quite the uptick in interest this academic year, drawing a wider audience at their fall concert and having a larger number of student musicians participating in the group. 

At the end of every semester, the MC jazz band hosts a showcase where they perform around 10 complex jazz pieces they’ve been rehearsing. 

Alongside the entire band, there are smaller, more intimate ensembles and collaborations with other student musicians through vocal accompaniments. 

In the past, the fall semester concert has taken place after the “lessons and carols” service inside Smith Auditorium. 

However, the jazz band’s most recent performance occurred in Kelly Commons. The club has been working to get the word out about their concerts, eager to show the student body and administration the work they’ve put into their pieces. 

“We put up posters all around, and I personally invited the president, the provost and the brothers,” Mark Dusovic, president of the jazz band, said. “Along with that, we had people posting on Instagram, which really worked for us.” 

This year, though, they have reached around 25 members who have dedicated themselves to their instruments, one of the largest groups the program has seen. 

“This has been my first time playing in a band this big,” Matt Regalado, a junior guitarist who joined the jazz band in the fall, said. “It’s like high action; you get the chart in front of you, and you have to learn how it goes on the fly. It’s given me a nice challenge and made me want to improve.” 

Moving into the spring semester, the jazz band aims to have more opportunities for the upperclassmen to showcase their talents while passing down the mantle to the younger musicians to keep the program going. 

The jazz band also wants to include more modern instruments and styles of jazz in their performances and continue to evolve. 

“Our goal is always to allow our senior students a chance to shine, doing improvising and soloing, preparing for their concert, and then to allow them to impart that skill to the younger students, so that they can take that tradition and build upon it,” Andy Bauer, director of Manhattan College’s performing arts program, said.

The jazz band has been able to pull from the large catalog of music they already have the rights to, to avoid copyright costs for new pieces. 

“I want to challenge them,” Mattoon said. I don’t want to repeat songs, so I’ve been able to kind of rehash some of the older music that was ordered before I was here, for the previous director. Fortunately, from the past budgets, we’ve had enough equipment that we haven’t had to purchase anything new lately.” 

The jazz band has reached new heights but has no intentions of slowing their growth. The group is now starting rehearsals for their next concert, which will take place in the latter half of this semester.