PALCS is proud to announce that the Center for Performing and Fine Arts (CPFA) High School Jazz Ensemble won several awards at the Cavalcade of Bands Festivals. At the Upper Darby Jazz Festival, hosted by Upper Darby High School located in Delaware County, the ensemble earned a rating of “Outstanding” in their first festival appearance.

PALCS sophomore and CPFA student Raquel Rosenwald of Chester County won a Best Soloist Award at the festival. Raquel first enrolled at PALCS as a 7th grader back in 2014 and she was not the only PALCS winner at the festival. Fellow PALCS sophomore and CPFA student Belle (Belinda) Holderness, also of Chester County, won an Honorable Mention Soloist Award. Belle has been a student at PALCS since 2015 when she was first enrolled as an 8th grader.

The Upper Darby Jazz Festival took place on Saturday February 18th from 12 pm to 8:30 pm and was filled with performances by five area high school jazz ensembles.

The CPFA High School Jazz Ensemble also participated in the Central Bucks West High School Cavalcade of Bands “Jazz on the West Side” festival. Here they earned a rating of “Excellent.” Raquel Rosenwald earned her second consecutive award as a soloist, winning an an Honorable Mention award for her improvised guitar solo.

The Cavalcade of Bands is a nonprofit organization made up of schools that compete on an inter-scholastic level. The organization provides schools with competitive opportunities involving different jazz related competitions. Membership to the organization is open to any school at any level, including elementary, middle, and high school, as well as any college or university that wishes to participate or compete. Currently over 100 schools are participants of the Cavalcade of Bands. Members of the organization include schools from Delaware, Maryland, New Jersey, Pennsylvania and West Virginia.

We would like to offer our congratulations on their wonderful accomplishments so far this year! Keep up the hard work!