Big Band to visit Nancy O'Brian courtesy of Norman High

Apr. 6—Norman High School is still selling tickets to anyone who wants to shake, rattle and roll at this year's 11th Annual Big Band Dinner Dance.

The event will take place at the Nancy O'Brian Center for the Performing Arts on Saturday, April 27 at 6:30 p.m.

The event will feature jazz, big band and contemporary music courtesy of the Norman High School Jazz Band.

Dinner and dancing will be included.

Lindsay Bruehl, event chair, said the event is student-led, and will offer a chance for students to show off the skills they have worked on throughout the year.

"If they ever get hired to do a jazz gig, this is the type of setup they would experience if they got that job," Bruehl said.

Matt Chandler, Norman band director, said attendees can expect to hear classical jazz from the 1940s, as well as music from the 1970s, 1980s, 1990s, up to today.

"The experience will be more like the big bands of the old days where people dance, rather than just a performance," Chandler said. "They are going to get two hours of music so people can dance the night away."

People can expect the works of Glenn Miller, like "In the Mood" and "Moonlight Serenade," as well as a handful of Disney classics.

"We'll also put in contest music for contest festival, written in the last decade, so that's newer," he said.

Chandler said it is important to raise money at events like these because the general budget doesn't cover extracurriculars.

"We understand that public school can't fund everything," Chandler said. "For us to do anything outside of the school day, whether it's marching band, concert band, solo and ensemble jazz band, to go on trips, buy new music, or to bring in special guests to work with our students, we need to raise money for that."

Tickets for the event are $60.

He said the event is a good experience for the students, as they normally train to perform in front of judges, not customers.

"We will play four pieces in April for our state contests where we are ranked and rated. That music isn't for a large audience," Chandler said. "At this fundraiser students will experience the original culture of jazz band, the purpose of which is to get people to dance."

This year at the event, Norman High will induct Joel Deardorf into the Norman High School Band Hall of Fame.

Deardorf served as assistant band director for nine years and as head director from 2017-2018.

During his tenure, the band received its first superior rating in more than 20 years, according to Bruehl.

"In his 10 years at Norman High, he was a Teacher of the Year finalist four times, and he was also the creator facilitator of the teacher walkout band during the Oklahoma teacher walkout of 2018," said Bruehl. "Because of that experience he was interviewed on NPR and was given the name Joey "Dee Snider," the lead singer of the band Twisted Sister."

The band famously sang "We're Not Gonna Take it," which is used as an anthem of rebellion.

Benjamin Liesenfeld, a 10th grader at Norman High, plays bass trombone in the jazz band.

"Big band dinner dance is an opportunity to show our hard work over the year. We got amazing music to play and got to watch all our parents and friends dance and have a lot of fun," he said.

Benjamin said he's looking forward to making memories and playing with friends.

"I do think that it will be difficult to play for two hours straight but not completely. There's so much fun to be had that it kinda distracts you from the difficulty of playing," he said. "I absolutely love to play rock jazz and upbeat music. There are definitely some pieces on our list that we will be playing for the fundraiser which I'm so excited for. We have plenty of amazing pieces that we play all year but the roster for the fundraiser is always the class's favorite."

For information or to buy tickets, attendees can email nhsbigband@gmail.com or visit nhsband.net/bbdd.

Brian King covers education and politics for The Transcript. Reach him at bking@normantranscript.com.