All-State Jazz Festival

The All State experience provides talented high school musicians the opportunity to play challenging and well composed literature in vocal, concert and jazz ensembles with their peers under the direction and supervision of top conductors and music educators from across the country.

On October 20, 2018, senior Justin Shao successfully auditioned for participation in the New Hampshire Jazz All State Festival to be held at Pinkerton Academy the weekend of February 5- 7 of 2019.  He qualified for the lead tenor sax part in the New Hampshire All State Jazz Band, placing third out of over 50 contestants on that instrument.  This will be Shao’s third and final Jazz All State experience and unlike the previous year, when alumnus Lucas Stevens ‘18 also attended the festival playing acoustic bass, Shao will be the sole representative of Phillips Exeter Academy at the event.

In November, 14 more applicants from PEA will travel to Manchester to audition for the Large Group Festival to be held in early April of 2019. 

The coordinator of the program at Exeter is Charles Jennison, instructor of Saxophone and Jazz Piano.