Six South Jersey High School Bands are Finalists in The Philly POPS Presents: All South Jersey Jazz Festival

Six southern New Jersey high school jazz bands have been selected as the finalists in The Philly POPS Presents: All South Jersey Jazz Festival – the high school jazz band competition and concert – created by The Philly POPS and Your Music Matters morning show on WNJC 1360 and WWDB 860 radio. The schools are Bishop Eustace High School, Pennsauken, NJ; Highland High School, Blackwood, NJ and Overbrook High School, Pine Hill, NJ in Camden County, Shawnee High School, Medford, NJ representing Burlington County with two schools in Gloucester County -- Deptford High School, Deptford, NJ and Washington Township High School, Sewell, NJ.

Each of these schools will be awarded a Master Class by a Philly POPS musician and each school has been invited to perform in the All South Jersey Jazz Festival concert. It will take place on Monday, May 23 at 7 p.m. at Investors Bank Performing Arts Center, 519 Hurffville-Crosskeys Road, Sewell, NJ.

One of these schools will be named the Grand Prize winner and will perform two songs in a side-by-side performance with The Philly POPS BIG Band Combo at the event. The Philly POPS will provide two complimentary tickets for all band members in the winning ensemble to attend a POPS concert next season.

The public will select the Grand Prize winner by listening to the Your Music Matters program at WNJC 1360 and WWDB 860 during the 7 a.m. hour on April 25, 27, 29, May 2, 4 and 6. Each school’s submission will be played and voters should visit www.1360radio.com and click the link to the Facebook page – All South Jersey Jazz Festival – to vote for their favorite high school jazz band. Voters can only vote once throughout the competition. They will vote by clicking the “like” button on the post about their favorite band. Voting will end on May 6, 2016 at 5:00 p.m.

The Philly POPS Presents: All South Jersey Jazz Festival was created in a new collaboration between The Philly POPS and the Your Music Matters Morning Show on WNJC 1360 and WWDB 860 Radio. This collaboration is designed to support music education in local schools. Frank Giordano, President and CEO of The Philly POPS, a South Jersey resident, said recently, “There are so many high school jazz bands throughout the Southern New Jersey area and they all deserve to be recognized. As schools continue to struggle with music education budgets, we hope this program will encourage schools to maintain ongoing jazz education programs.” Paul Dilks, program director of Your Music Matters at WNJC 1360 and WWDB 860, is thrilled to have The Philly POPS as a partner in this program. He explained, “I have always thought we needed to bring more attention to music programs that focus on jazz and pop music, and because The Philly POPS has taken such an interest in South Jersey, there is great excitement in the schools and the community about the festival.”

The Philly POPS has an outstanding POPS in Schools innovative arts in education program that is expanding to Southern New Jersey with this endeavor. The program is now in 11 schools in the School District of Philadelphia. It is designed and developed around collaboration, professional development, deep lasting relationships, and extended in-school work with administrators, teachers, and students. POPS in Schools focuses on interactivity, Master Classes with guest artists and POPS musicians as well as performance opportunities and access to concerts and rehearsals.

For more information, visit phillypops.org and www.1360radio.com or call Paul Dilks at 609-685-3736.

About The Philly POPS:

The Philly POPS, the largest standalone pops orchestra in the United States, delights audiences with the inspired performance of American popular music. The POPS celebrates this distinctive musical heritage through an expanding repertoire of innovative concert presentations and a robust set of educational and engagement initiatives.

Now in its 37th season, the official POPS orchestra of Pennsylvania serves a consistently growing audience of over 100,000 annually. Music Director Michael Krajewski and the 65-peice Philly POPS orchestra keeps listeners tapping their toes to an impressive repertoire of songs from American traditions of music up through today’s chart toppers.

Outside the concert hall, Salute Series performances – including POPS on Independence on July 3 and the I’ll Be Home for Christmas: A Salute to the Military and First Responders – celebrate the American tradition of service around important national holidays; POPS in Schools enhances music education for Philadelphia School District students; and POPS Outside brings POPS music to local communities.

The Philly POPS performs as a founding resident company of The Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts, and at venues throughout the mid-Atlantic region.