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High School Musicians Jazzed For Ginormous Jazz Fest

On Saturday young musicians from all over the country converge on Boston for Berklee College of Music's annual High School Jazz Festival.

An ensemble from Mashpee High School will be there, including 18-year-old tenor saxophone player Chelsea Mullen. She's done the fest before and compares the massive meet-up to a "Woodstock" for young jazz players.

"They put us all in a big huge room where everyone is bringing in their stuff and kind of warming up and practicing a little bit," she recalled. "It gets loud."

Really loud, with 3,000 students and 200 bands, all competing for $175,000 in scholarships to Berklee.

"I mean it's always a little nerve-wracking when you're in that kind of showcase situation and there's other students and schools looking at you," Mullen admitted, "but everyone's there to share music so you just have to take that into account."

This jazz fest is the largest event of its kind in the U.S. and is open to the public.

This program aired on March 4, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

Headshot of Andrea Shea

Andrea Shea Correspondent, Arts & Culture
Andrea Shea is a correspondent for WBUR's arts & culture reporter.

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