Preliminary Festival Locations (5:00 PM)
Monday, March 4, 2019 @ West Orange High School
Tuesday, March 5, 2019 @ Bridgewater-Raritan High School
Wednesday, March 6, 2019 @ Cherokee High School
Thursday, March 7, 2019 @ Jackson Liberty High School
Friday, March 8, 2019 @ Newark Academy

Finals Locations for Saturday, April 27, 2019 (5:00 PM)
Division I @ JP Stevens High School
Division II @ Princeton High School
Division III @ West Milford High School

NJAJE State Jazz Festival

The New Jersey Association for Jazz Education is presenting an opportunity to participate in the official jazz festival sponsored by your state organization devoted solely to jazz education.

The festival occurs in two phases:
  • A preliminary round of all participating ensembles, regardless of school size, held at five locations on consecutive nights and adjudicated by the same three professionals. Sight-reading is required and is scored as 15% of the total score in the preliminary round. Improvisation is also required as part of the sight-reading chart, and is one of the new components of the sight-reading adjudication sheet.
  • A final round held at three locations; each of the top nine scoring bands from the preliminary round is grouped by school enrollment. Sight-reading and improvisation are required and are identical to the preliminary round.

To participate in the NJAJE Jazz festivals, please fill out the NJAJE Festival, Conference, and Membership Application form and follow the appropriate instructions.

Downloads for the State Jazz Festival:
State Jazz Festival Rules and Regulations
State Jazz Festival Attendance Policy
Scoring Rubrics
​Performance Adjudication Sheet
Sight Reading Adjudication Sheet
Sight Reading Adjudication Procedures
2019 Divisions for Finals (As of 1/19/19)
​
Locations, dates, and times for the festival can be found on the calendar page.

If you have any questions or concerns, please contact us.

2018 Festival Results

Division I (Largest School Populations)
1st Place        John P. Stevens Jazz Ensemble
2nd Place       Edison
3rd Place        John P. Stevens Lab Jazz

Remaining Finalists (in Alphabetical Order)
Camden Creative Arts
Cherokee
East Brunswick
Elizabeth Jazz Ensemble
Southern Regional
West Orange Jazz 1

Section Awards
Saxophone    Edison
Trumpet         John P. Stevens Jazz Ensemble
Trombone      John P. Stevens Jazz Ensemble
Rhythm          Edison

Solo Awards
Elton Byrd, Drums, Edison
Isaiah Rivera, Piano, Camden Creative Arts
Valerie Collado, Trombone, Edison
Destiny Diggs Pinto, Bass, West Orange

Rick Kerber Scholarship
Varun Das, Drums, John P. Stevens

Richard A. Graham Sight Reading Award
John P. Stevens Jazz Ensemble
Division II (Moderate School Populations)
1st Place      Princeton Studio Band
2nd Place     Princeton Jazz Ensemble
3rd Place      Scotch Plains-Fanwood Moonglowers

Remaining Finalists (in Alphabetical Order)
Hightstown
Jackson Memorial
Mendham
Mount Olive
Shawnee Jazz Band
Shawnee Jazz Ensemble

Section Awards
Saxophone     SPF Moonglowers
Trumpet          Princeton Jazz Ensemble
Trombone       Shawnee Jazz Ensemble
Rhythm           Princeton Jazz Ensemble

Solo Awards
Selia Gupta, Princeton Jazz Ensemble
Simon Hwang, Princeton Studio
Ethan Wollman, SPF Moonglowers
​Peter Rushing, Shawnee Jazz Band

Rick Kerber Scholarship
Liam Sutcliffe, Trumpet,  Princeton Studio

Richard A. Graham Sight Reading Award
Princeton Studio Band
Division III (Smallest School Populations)
1st Place        Newark Academy Chameleon
2nd Place       West Milford
3rd Place        Jackson Liberty

Remaining Finalists (in Alphabetical Order)
Burlington City
Deptford
Highland
Newark Academy Big Band
Overbrook
Roxbury

Section Awards
Saxophone     Newark Academy Chameleon
Trumpet          Jackson Liberty
Trombone       West Milford
Rhythm           Newark Academy Chameleon

Solo Awards
Alan Zhu, Tenor Sax, Newark Acad. Chameleon
Reid Christmann, Trombone, Newark Ac. Cham.
Vikram Bala, Bass, Newark Academy Chameleon
​Eric Darnsteadt, Drums, West Milford

Rick Kerber Scholarship
David Grahm, Alto Sax, Deptford

Richard A. Graham Sight Reading Award
Newark Academy Chameleon