According to Mike Pote, director of Jazz I, audition sessions for Jazz Ensemble will take place at 7 a.m. Nov. 17 to 19. Auditions for the wind section will be in Room P105 while auditions for the rhythm section will be in the Percussion Lab. Auditioning students should prepare to attend all three audition sessions.

For the auditions, students must play a specific excerpt from “Doxy” by Sonny Rollins and then there are additional requests for students who plan to audition for the rhythm section or be a drummer.

Sammy Bonnet, vibraphone player and junior, said she has been working on different musical elements to prepare herself for the auditions.

“(The Jazz Ensemble directors) usually give us the audition material five to six weeks beforehand, so I’ve been working with that, and then I also do a lot with the blues scales, and I do a lot of ‘comping’ with chords and then just working with inversions and music theory,” Bonnet said. “‘Comping’ is like when you play the chords that the melody is playing behind them to just to give it a little more life and support behind it.”

Jazz Ensemble members will meet from 7 to 7:40 a.m. every day before school to rehearse, and all members will earn one academic credit.

The CHS Jazz program is one of the largest jazz ensemble programs in the country, according to Pote. There are 4 jazz ensembles separated by skill and experience, with Jazz I being the most advanced ensemble. Each jazz ensemble has around 25 members.

Bonnet, a member of Jazz IV last year, said she hopes to be in Jazz II this year and enjoys the atmosphere of Jazz Ensemble.

“I think people should do Jazz (Ensemble) because it’s a really fun time,” Bonnet said. “Everyone really seems to get together and have a good time with the band directors, and we just make some really cool music.”