High School jazz musicians from Gloucester and Salem, joined by well-known adult players, are holding a benefit concert to support St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital on Friday, March 10, at 7 p.m. The event at Gloucester High School is free and open to the public, but the student organizers hope each attendee will contribute $10 if able to.
Every penny raised will go to St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital, a world leader in the battle against childhood diseases.
The concert is the brainchild of Gloucester High School students Elijah Sarrouf, Esme Sarrouf and Tyler Weed.
“My goal is to start a tradition of bringing the local communities together through music and a common cause, in this case St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital,” said Elijah Sarrouf, a senior at Gloucester High School. “It’s really important that we can give our talents through music to help kids battling cancer, and I’d love for this to be something bands across the North Shore come together every year to do.”
The lineup will include: the Gloucester High School Docksiders jazz band; the Salem High School Jazz Quintet and Jazz Ensemble; local band-leader Brandon Tarricone and his Dixieland Jazz band; and guitarist Krewe De Roux.
“We reached out to Salem High School and to Krewe De Roux and they jumped right in,” Weed said. “Others have said they want to join next year, so we hope this is the first of many.” The students are especially grateful for the participation of Salem High School bands director Cynthia Napierkowski and Gloucester High School bands director Cole Lundquist and to the Gloucester High School administration for making the performance space available.
The Sarrouf family has been involved in raising support for St. Jude for decades. Elijah and Esme’s father, John, said of the concert: “St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital was founded by Danny Thomas, a master performer, so it’s lovely that teenagers decided to use a musical performance to advance his oft-stated mission that “no child should die in the dawn of life.”
Jazz fans who are unable to attend the event but would like to support the initiative may give at the fundraising website: https://fundraising.stjude.org/site/TR?px=2965976&fr_id=140354&pg=personal
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