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Going overseas was once a big deal. Now it is an essential part of school for many secondary students, writes Rosie Hoban
CONDUCTOR Andy O'Connell can hear the "zing" coming from the Blackburn High School's Senior Stage Band. It's a certain sound, a fire in the belly that he and his 18 young jazz musicians witnessed during their recent tour of New York, Los Angeles, San Francisco and the Monterey Jazz Festival.
He had hoped that they would absorb the passion while workshopping with some of the world's jazz icons, including the Mingus Big Band and players from Harry Connick Jr's band -- and they did.
"Words, or instruction, can never replace experience," O'Connell says. "They have seen the expression on faces as people have played and sat alongside the people they have listened to for years and taken in the history and culture that surrounds this American art form we call jazz.
"They have seen how real all this is and it is no longer a faraway fantasy that they hear on a recording."
Teachers and parents at state, Catholic and private schools alike echo O'Connell's enthusiasm for exposing students to a culture or experience different from their...