On March 20 in the CHS auditorium, Jazz Ensemble will host its annual concert Jazz Expressions. The event will begin at 7 p.m. and all four jazz ensembles as well as Carmel Middle School’s jazz ensemble will perform.

According to Mike Pote, the director of Jazz Ensemble I, the concert will feature a variety of jazz music as well as a guest artist. This year Loy Hetrick, a trombone player and low brass instructor, will be the guest artist.

Wesley Arends, trombone player in Jazz Ensemble I and senior, said he especially looks forward to the concert this year not only because he is a senior but also because his instructor is the guest artist.

“I’m pretty excited. It’s going to be my last Jazz Expressions concert, so yeah, there’ll be some emotions there and I’m just excited to give a good concert to the community,” Arends said.

According to Arends, the jazz ensembles are currently practicing their performance pieces. Additionally,  Arends said they are preparing additional music to add to the music Hetrick will perform.

“We’ve just been working on the pieces ourselves, to make sure we’re ready for him to add to our ensemble. And, mainly, when he’s playing, it’s going to be a solo section so we just play the backgrounds for him so we can just play the charts without him and just add him in on top of it to make the finished product.”

Students in Jazz Ensemble meet from 7 to 7:40 a.m. every weekday in classrooms to practice. Jazz Ensemble will release additional information about upcoming events through the Carmel H.S. Bands Twitter account.

Arends said he hopes people will come to see Jazz Expressions because the ensembles have practiced a lot for the performance.

“Not many high schools have such a big jazz program as we do. We’re fortunate enough to have four awesome directors and four awesome ensembles as well and it’s just a fun time and I’ve seen people dancing in the aisles and tapping on their feet. It’s just a good time and you should come out and see it.”