Every year Tam students are given the opportunity travel all over the world through Tam’s Global Studies program. Students taking French go to France, drama students go to London, Spanish students go to Mexico and music students go to New York. Although music students are the only group to make a domestic excursion, they have an experience very different from any other class. Rather than traveling for cultural reasons alone, music students go to New York to compete in the New York Heritage Music Festival. No single music class gets to travel to New York two years in a row. Since the Symphonic Orchestra competed last year, the Choir and the Jazz Band had the chance to participate this year. However, due to the cost of the trip, the Jazz Band will not be going.

Each student traveling to New York has to pay $1,500. If a student wants to attend the festival but cannot afford to, scholarships are available through the Tam High United Music Boosters.
     “I went [to New York] last year, so I wouldn’t have gone this year,” said sophomore Jazz Band member Daniel Lavezzo. Despite the Jazz Band’s withdrawal from the competition, Tam’s Choir will still be traveling to New York to participate in the music festival. The trip will be five days long lasting from March 24 to the 28.      “Last year’s Jazz Band was made up mostly of seniors, so when they graduated [the Jazz Band] got restocked with people from the Symphonic Orchestra,” said music director Spiro Tsingaris. Since the large majority of the Jazz Band’s members went to New York last year with the Symphonic Orchestra, several parents decided that in this harsh economic time they were not interested in paying for their children to make the same trip twice.

This article originally appeared in the February 2010 issue.