Art and jazz mix at Sisters event

Two of Sisters High School's finest art students took to the stage Friday night, flanking the Portland-based Ezra Weiss Sextet.

As the jazz ensemble filled the Sisters High School Auditorium with music, the artists swept paint across canvas in an audio-visual feast for an enthusiastic audience.

"I heard a really good reception from the audience," said music teacher Lia Morgan.

The event was aptly titled "The Art of Jazz," The Roundhouse Foundation-sponsored evening of art, entertainment and fundraising for school programs.

Morgan's Jazz Combo opened the show, with nine student musicians on stage - five horns and a rhythm section.

The musicians got a unique opportunity before the show to work with the excellent musicians of the sextet. The members of the Ezra Weiss Sextet held a two-hour clinic with the students. Each group played for the other, and considerable time was spent batting around philosophical thoughts on the presentation of music, Morgan recounted.

Artists Meganne Mills and Dakota Wagner contributed multiple paintings, all created in the heat of the moment. The paintings were auctioned to raise $1,500 for the middle school and high school band and arts programs.

"That was largely due to The Roundhouse Foundation, who sponsored the whole thing," Morgan reported.

Morgan considered the event a success both as a fundraiser and as an educational experience.

"We're excited to do it again next year," she said.