When Beyoncé, Taylor Swift and Lady Gaga put on the glitz Jan. 31 for the 2010 Grammy Awards, a Westside High School senior will be there, too.
Caroline Juster, 17, a trombonist, is one of 28 high school students from across the country selected for the 2010 Grammy Jazz Ensembles.
The students, who will fill three instrumental and vocal groups, will spend a week in Los Angeles, performing at various Grammy Week events, cutting a CD at Capitol Recording Studios and attending the 52nd Annual Grammy Awards.
Juster, who already has a long musical résumé, said she's excited to attend the Grammys and see great performers in action.
“Just soaking it in will be really exciting,” she said.
Also ranking high, she said, is the opportunity to play with “other kids who are so passionate about music.”
Juster is applying to colleges across the country. Her top pick is the Juilliard School in New York City. She plans to major in musical performance, and her goal is to play in a major orchestra.
Roger Groth, Westside High School's band director, said Juster is on her way.
“She's a marvelous player,” he said. “She plays as well as very advanced college players already.”
And no, her parents, Sara and Sorin Juster, have never had to nag her to practice.
More often, Sara Juster said, they're telling her, “Caroline, it's 10:30 at night. Could you please put it away so the rest of us can sleep?”
To apply for the Grammy Jazz Ensembles, Juster had to submit an audition DVD featuring her playing with a live rhythm section. She performed with musicians recommended by her grandfather, a poet and jazz fan in Kansas City.
The jazz ensembles program is part of the Grammy Foundation's efforts to foster the next generation of music and music-makers.
Juster is a member of Westside's concert band, playing first-chair trombone, as well as the school's marching band, show choir band and top jazz band and jazz combo.
She was selected three years in a row as principal trombone for the Nebraska All State Orchestra. She plays with the Omaha Area Youth Orchestra and the Metropolitan Area Youth Jazz Orchestra, among other groups, and has won numerous awards.
Contact the writer:
444-1223, julie.anderson@owh.com
Copyright ©2012 Omaha World-Herald®. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, displayed or redistributed for any purpose without permission from the Omaha World-Herald.
