Arlington High School Jazz Machine

Since 1997, the Jazz education program at Arlington High School has grown to three large Jazz ensembles and a Jazz combo. Membership in all of these extra-curricular ensembles is determined by audition. The groups rehearse one day per week for three hours each rehearsal.

The Jazz Machine is for the most advanced jazz performers and its focus is to perform “concert oriented” Jazz literature that is often recorded by college or professional big bands, with an emphasis on improvisation. This ensemble performs in various festivals and concerts within the school district as well as around the county, state, and the northeast region.

The Jazz Machine has performed 20 times at the prestigious Berklee College of Music High School Jazz Festival in Boston. This is the largest one-day high school Jazz festival in the USA. The Jazz Machine has won First Place at the Berklee Festival four times (2009, 2010, 2012, and 2013), and placed in the top three just about every year since 2007. In 2018, the Jazz Machine took 2nd place at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival in Rockville, Maryland. In 2019, they returned to the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival and won 1st place. In 2023, they won 1st place again at the Mid-Atlantic Jazz Festival.

Follow Jazz Machine on Facebook.