Jazz Bands

Pennsbury High School is located in Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania in the heart of beautiful Bucks County. The Pennsbury Concert Jazz Band has long been considered one of the finest musical ensembles in the country. Year after year it consistently earns the highest rankings at festivals in which it competes. Since its beginnings in 1959, the musicians in this group have performed jazz music at a level not typical of high school age students.

The Pennsbury Concert Jazz Band has been an integral part of the Pennsbury instrumental music program.  The band has performed on the  “Tonight Show,” at the Montreaux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, the Mellon Jazz Festival and the Montreal Jazz Festival. Guest soloists through the years have included Stan Kenton, Maynard Ferguson, Bill Watrous, Terell Stafford, Carl Allen, Phil Woods, Joe Alessi, Dick Oatts, and Wayne Bergeron. The Pennsbury Concert Jazz Band has the distinct honor of being the first American High School Jazz Band to perform throughout the People’s Republic of China.  Many compositions have been composed for PCJB by such jazz great grammy award-winning composers as Sammy Nestico, Frank Mantooth, Bob Mintzer and currently Emmy and Grammy award winning composer Patrick Williams has written a work for PCJB. The Pennsbury School District is listed as one of the “100 Best Communities for music education in the United States”. The Pennsbury Concert Jazz Band in 2008 toured Hong Kong, China; 2010 London England; 2012 Buenos Aires, Argentina; and 2017 California. The director of the Concert Jazz Band is Mr. Francis Carpino

The Pennsbury Jazz Ensemble has been an integral part of the music program at Pennsbury since the ensemble’s inception in 1991. The Pennsbury Instrumental Music Program has the distinction of being listed as one of the “100 Best Communities for music education in the United States”, and Jazz has been an important part of the program since the 1950’s.  The Jazz Ensemble is designed for students to enhance their jazz musicianship and prepare them for future music making in the jazz idiom. The Jazz Ensemble season begins in November and includes competitions through mid-May. The Director of the Jazz Ensemble is Nick Terramani.