THE Stirling jazz band, which has toured the country and is a regular act at the National Arts Festival, will perform at the Stutterheim Theatre on Saturday.
Stirling High School’s deputy principal and music teacher Alan Webster said the band had performed at the theatre for the past 19 years, playing some of the most popular classics.
“In 1996 we decided to have a dance with the band playing traditional swing jazz,” said Webster.
He said the idea was to show pupils how challenging it is to keep an audience on the dance floor, “but it was also a community service because there are no opportunities anymore to dance to a live big band”.
In addition to touring the country, the band has toured Germany, Holland, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Britain.
It performs regularly at the National Arts Festival and some of its members with others from the jazz bands of University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch have been selected for the National Schools Jazz Band over the years.
The band has also participated in the Port Rex Lions Eisteddfod since 1993, winning various trophies along the way.
“There will be two big performances at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in July and we have been invited to perform at the Standard Bank Johannesburg Joy of Jazz Festival in September.
“This is a big honour as school bands are seldom featured at the Joburg festival,” said Webster.
The Stutterheim theatre was developed by Brian Denyer but lost momentum after he was killed in a collision with a car a decade ago while cycling.
The Stutterheim amateur dramatic society is now trying to resuscitate things.
The society relies on visiting shows and performers to fill the theatre.
Lyndon Hall, the theatre’s technical convener, said local shows were always good as they generated great camaraderie between the performers and audience and drew larger crowds.
“We try to bring shows to Stutterheim that we think will draw good audiences from local people and have sourced many shows in the past from the annual Grahamstown Arts Festival,” said Hall.
He said that the facilities are also used by church groups, choirs and private organisations.
Webster said Saturday night’s performance would start with the Stirling Primary and Stirling Junior bands and two sets of the Stirling Jazz Band thereafter.
- Tickets cost R75 each and can be bought at the school office. More details about the performances will follow in the Daily Dispatch’s Gig Guide on Thursday. — ziphon@dispatch.co.za
Stirling jazz keeps on bopping
Stirling High School’s deputy principal and music teacher Alan Webster said the band had performed at the theatre for the past 19 years, playing some of the most popular classics.
“In 1996 we decided to have a dance with the band playing traditional swing jazz,” said Webster.
He said the idea was to show pupils how challenging it is to keep an audience on the dance floor, “but it was also a community service because there are no opportunities anymore to dance to a live big band”.
In addition to touring the country, the band has toured Germany, Holland, Namibia, Zimbabwe and Britain.
It performs regularly at the National Arts Festival and some of its members with others from the jazz bands of University of Cape Town and Stellenbosch have been selected for the National Schools Jazz Band over the years.
The band has also participated in the Port Rex Lions Eisteddfod since 1993, winning various trophies along the way.
“There will be two big performances at the National Arts Festival in Grahamstown in July and we have been invited to perform at the Standard Bank Johannesburg Joy of Jazz Festival in September.
“This is a big honour as school bands are seldom featured at the Joburg festival,” said Webster.
The Stutterheim theatre was developed by Brian Denyer but lost momentum after he was killed in a collision with a car a decade ago while cycling.
The Stutterheim amateur dramatic society is now trying to resuscitate things.
The society relies on visiting shows and performers to fill the theatre.
Lyndon Hall, the theatre’s technical convener, said local shows were always good as they generated great camaraderie between the performers and audience and drew larger crowds.
“We try to bring shows to Stutterheim that we think will draw good audiences from local people and have sourced many shows in the past from the annual Grahamstown Arts Festival,” said Hall.
He said that the facilities are also used by church groups, choirs and private organisations.
Webster said Saturday night’s performance would start with the Stirling Primary and Stirling Junior bands and two sets of the Stirling Jazz Band thereafter.
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