The Paris High School Jazz Band is
one of several ancillary ensembles in the District 95 Fine Arts Department.
Membership is earned through auditions which are held in early October
shortly after Paris High School's Homecoming activities. The band maintains
a weekly evening rehearsal schedule throughout the course of the school year.
Performances may vary from one year to the next, but each year concludes
with a full length Spring concert usually on the last Friday in
April.
Musical competency, creativity, and expression rank high on the list of objectives as the band strives to maintain a high level of performance in their appearances throughout the community and surrounding area. Improvisation and individual skills receive top priority in rehearsals and performances. Most importantly, each member is challenged to widen his or her imagination, because it is our imagination which produces the ideal by which we judge our acts and the acts of others in our everyday lives. Music has a way of reaching a variety of listeners provided it first reaches the heart of the performer.
Joe Gill is the director of the Beginning, Sixth-Grade and Paris High School Bands for the Paris District 95 Schools. He has been teaching in the Paris schools since 1974. Mr. Gill is a graduate of Millikin University where he was a member of the Jazz Lab Band under the direction of the late Roger Schueler. As lead trombonist, he had the opportunity to perform with Clark Terry, Bill Holman, Don Menza, Allyn Furgeson, Gerald Wilson, Louis Bellson and others, as well as travel with the ensemble on two extended overseas tours sponsored by the U.S. State Department. His Paris school district duties include directing the Paris High School Instrumental Music Program, coordinating and teaching the beginning band program for the district and directing the Sixth-Grade Band at Mayo Middle School. Mr. Gill has been the director of the Paris High School Jazz Band since 1974 and is currently serving as the district's Fine Arts Department Chair. Additionally, Mr. Gill has performed with the Decatur Big Band and the Paris Big Band and maintains a membership in the Music Educators National Conference and the International Association for Jazz Education. Before moving to Paris Mr. Gill worked as an assistant instructor in the Preparatory Music Department at Millikin and was the director of the Lakeview High School Band in Decatur, Illinois. He resides in Paris, Illinois with his wife Evie, also a Millikin University School of Music graduate, who teaches piano and flute in her home studio.
Click here to view a video produced by I.A.J.E. that defines the direction of jazz education in today's world.
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Return to District 95 HomePage | Paris High School HomePage | Paris High School Band HomePage
Last Update: November 3, 2003
Saxes |
Trumpets |
Trombones |
Rhythm |
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John - alto |
Ryan |
Nathan |
Jamie piano |
For information on booking the P.H.S. Jazz Band for your event contact
Joe Gill
Paris High School
309 South Main Street
Paris, IL 61944
Band Office: (217) 466-8235
High School Office: (217) 466-1175
FAX (217) 466-1903
David Meister, principal
District Office: (217) 465-8448
Connie Sutton, Superintendent
email: gillj@paris95.k12.il.us