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Accolades, honours and all that jazz

The accolades keep rolling in for the R.D. Parker Collegiate music department as four students have been selected to this year's Provincial Honour Jazz Band.
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R.D. Parker Collegiate musicians (L to R) Leah Derksen, Brandon Nowlin, Evan Lutz, and Nicole Dubuc were all selected to the Provincial Honour Jazz Band. With four students selected, R.D. Parker is the most represented school in the province.

The accolades keep rolling in for the R.D. Parker Collegiate music department as four students have been selected to this year's Provincial Honour Jazz Band.

Trumpeter Leah Derksen, trombonists Evan Lutz and Nicole Dubuc, and saxophonist Brandon Nowlin who was also selected to this year's Provincial Honour Concert Band, were all selected through a rigorous audition process.

The students were tasked with preparing and recording three pieces of music for their auditions. A panel of six jazz musicians and educators then reviewed the recordings, with only the best young musicians being selected.

"We are particularly pleased that with four students being selected, R.D. Parker Collegiate is the most represented school in the province this year," said RDPC music teacher Kevin Lewis in a press release.

It will be a busy month ahead of these students' June 23 performance at the Winnipeg Jazz Festival at the West End Cultural Centre. The four are headed to the Music in the Parks Festival in Shakopee, Minnesota on May 14, along with other RDPC Senior Music Ensembles.

On June 4, the Senior Music Ensembles performed at the 28th annual Cabaret at R.D. Parker Collegiate. Jazz students will welcome renowned jazz musician Derrick Gardner to the school for two days to work with the bands on jazz performance and improvisation before performing a concert alongside the students on June 12.

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