San Jose, May 1, 2019:  Eighth grade student Felipe Feldman was awarded second place for best Jazz Soloist in the junior high category for the 2019 DownBeat Student Music Awards, a national competition open to junior high, high school, university, and solo entries.  

Musicians submit instrumental or vocal recordings in one of 11 categories.  Student musicians receive scores on musicianship, creativity, improvisation, technique, sound quality and balance, excitement, and authority.  The judges are professional musicians and educators. The DownBeat Student Music Awards are considered among the highest music honors in the field of jazz education.   

Earlier this year, Felipe was selected to be a part of the SJZ High School All Stars, a regional audition-based jazz band for students interested in the study and performance of jazz, and selected as the first alto saxophone for the The Junior High All-State Honor Ensembles.  Felipe was the only 8th grader on this year’s SJZ High School All Star ensemble, and only the second 8th grader ever to be selected.

In 2017, Daiki Nakajima, a Moreland Middle School 8th grader at the time, was selected as a 2017 DownBeat Student Music Awards (SMA) winner, including an additional recognition of “Junior High School Outstanding Performance” for his Tenor Saxophone recording.  Daiki was also recognized this year as a Prospect High School student in the high school category, and in the Small Combo category with SFJazz’ High School All Stars Big Band.

Join us next month for upcoming Spring Concerts from Moreland’s award-winning music program:

• Thursday, May 16, 2019, 7:00PM:  Honor Orchestra/Band (4th/5th grade), Moreland Community Center

• Monday, May 20, 2019, 6:00PM:  Easterbrook Discovery Middle School (EDS) Orchestra/Band, EDS Quad
   
• Tuesday, May 21, 2019, 2:00PM: Latimer Middle School Orchestra/Band, Latimer MU Room

• Thursday, May 23, 2019, 7:00PM: Moreland Middle School Orchestra/Band, Moreland Community Center

Moreland School District is proud to be home to budding and thriving student musicians.  With the leadership of Music in Moreland (MiM), a subcommittee of the Moreland Education Foundation (MEF), parents and community members dedicate their time to sustaining Moreland’s award-winning music program.  For more information on Music in Moreland, visit www.mefhome.org/music-in-moreland/