UMSL ★ Arts & Culture

Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival marks 20 years helping inspire, teach student musicians from schools across the region

Musicians from more than 40 high schools and middle schools in Missouri and Illinois took part in the three-day festival held last week at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center.

April 11 - June 6

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Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival marks 20 years helping inspire, teach student musicians from schools across the region

Members of the Wentzville Liberty Jazz Band, including saxophonist Leilani Green (front row, middle) perform under the direction of Sarita Magno-Parsons during the Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival

It all came together for Leilani Green last Thursday as she performed her saxophone solo with the Wentzville Liberty High School Jazz Band during the 2024 Greater St. Louis Jazz Festival.Playing on stage in the Anheuser-Busch Performance Hall at the Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center on the campus of the University of Missouri–St. Louis, Green finally nailed the chord changes she’d been working hard to perfect over months as the band moved through its rendition of “Flight of the Foo Birds,” the classic song from The Count Basie Orchestra recorded in the late 1950s.

“It definitely clicked,” said Green, a Wentzville Liberty senior. “I took a music theory class my junior year in high school, but I hadn’t really applied it to the jazz. It just felt really good.”

Wentzville Liberty Band Director Sarita Magno-Parsons always loves witnessing moments like that.