The jazz band kicked off the annual holiday concerts with its performance on Tuesday, Dec. 3. Band director Debra Steiner said she was pleased with the performance.

“It thought it went really well. The kids did a good job. It’s always kind of intimidating when you have a bunch of band teachers in the audience listening to you, but I thought they did good,” Steiner said.

Senior guitarist Mastin Tapp said the band needed to gain confidence.

“We played it safe [at the concert]. We need to work on our confidence. Once we get more confident with our instruments and our sound, it will help us get a bigger sound. Apart from that [the concert] was pretty good. We just need more swag,” Tapp said.

Steiner said jazz band is made up of students in band already.

“[Jazz band] meets as a class. It is made up of freshman through seniors and they are all members of the band program too,” Steiner said.

Tapp said jazz band required teamwork.

“It’s a lot more intimate. Because the music is harder, you have to work harder as a team to make it sound the right way, but when you get it to sound right, it’s quite an accomplishment,” Tapp said.

After the jazz band finished on stage, another band made an appearance, called Midwest Winds performed.

“[Midwest Winds] are semi-professional musicians that get together,” Steiner said, “I play in that band so our conductor asked if she wanted to split a concert.”

Tapp said he enjoys playing at concerts.

“[The concert] was just a good time. I always hope more people could come because the more people that come the more fun it is to play,” Tapp said. “Thank you to Steiner for being a great teacher and making us better every day.”