North Penn fields two high school jazz ensembles, which are named after the school colors — Navy and Columbia. Auditions take place in November and rehearsals are held twice a week from January through April.
Navy Jazz Band
The goal of the Navy Band is to perform advanced big band repertoire from the books of Count Basie, Stan Kenton, Buddy Rich, and Duke Ellington. Over the years, the Navy Band has performed at numerous conventions and festivals including PMEA, NaFME, IAJE, and MENC. The band is 3-time winners of the Artsquest Steel Stacks HS Jazz band showcase in Bethlehem, PA, which provided them the opportunity to perform for the Dirty Dozen Brass Band and jazz saxophonist Jessy J. The Navy Band is also honored to be the first high school ever to be invited to perform at the New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival in April of 2016. They also perform various jazz combo gigs and park concerts around the community each year as well. Mr. DiValentino is the director of the band and can be reached at divaledm@npenn.org.
Columbia Jazz Band
Mr. Santanello is the director of the Columbia Jazz Band and can be reached at santanjj@npenn.org.