You can catch the final notes of the Birch Creek Music Performance Center's Academy season this week when the second Big Band Jazz session wraps on Saturday. Academy musicians and Birch Creek faculty members performed over 30 times inside the Egg Harbor campus' concert barn. That number skyrockets when you include jazz ambassadors, shows across the county, and intermission performances under the gazebo. 

It will be a long ride home for the nearly 70 percent of Birch Creek's students who came from out of state this year to attend one of Birch Creek's four sessions. That includes Jacob, Kyle, and Linnea, who will join their classmates at John Hersey High School in Arlington Heights, Ill. next week as they prepare for the upcoming marching band season after the ensemble won a 4A Division State Championship last year. Playing at other high-caliber competitions in Illinois introduced the trio to other great musicians who sang the high praises of Birch Creek.

While academy students get hands-on training with world-class musicians from across the country, Jacob, Kyle, and Linnea all said that performing and interacting with the community were some of their favorite parts of their Birch Creek experience.

Jacob, Kyle, and Linnea were not the only Huskies to attend Birch Creek. Their classmate Ethan was named one of the most improved wind players during the first Big Band Jazz sessions. Birch Creek wraps up the Academy season on August 10th with a free family concert at 1 p.m. and another performance at 7 p.m. You can find ticketing information here.