The smooth, soulful sound of jazz music will soon fill the Performing Arts Center for the Michigan School Band and Orchestra Association State Jazz Festival.

“The MSBOA State Jazz Festival is an adjudicated event in which jazz bands from all over the state come to perform for a panel of 3 adjudicators,” band director Christopher Traskal said. “Following the performance on stage, every group goes into the “clinic room” where they will get a 30 minute workshop with a renowned jazz educator. Each group will receive an overall rating based on their performance.”

The instrumental music program will host the festival on Friday, March 22. The event takes place in the PAC at 6:45 p.m. and all performances are free to attend.

“Festivals are the way we get evaluated in music classes, and can be compared to standardized tests for instrumentalists. Getting an outside perspective as to what you’re doing in the classroom is vital to our growth as players,” Traskal said.

There are 13 groups performing. The past five years in a row, the jazz ensemble has earned straight A’s/1st Divisions.

“It’s big a jazz fest. A bunch of bands from around the state go to compete and it’s pretty fun,” senior trombone player John Howell said. “You should attend to support fellow students in jazz band. Go and listen to some good music.”