The Jazz Band will be travelling to New Orleans, Louisiana over spring break to help rebuild houses as well as showcase their talents in the home of jazz.

Forty-four students in the band will be participating in His Hands To Go, which helps repair homes damaged in Hurricane Katrina. They will also be doing an exchange concert with another school in New Orleans, where they will perform.

“We are doing a few small performances around the city and sightseeing, but one of the main things were doing in New Orleans is volunteering through an organization called His Hands to Go to build houses for people down there who were affected by Hurricane Katrina,” Brianna Brodeur, sophomore jazz band member, said.

The Jazz Band is currently preparing for the exchange concert with Warren Eastern Charter School’s band, and according to Madiha Molani, junior jazz band member, they’re getting ready to perform in ways that they may not be used to.

“We are doing some work with smaller combos of about five to six people so that spontaneous performances are possible,” Molani said. “That’s kind of what people do in New Orleans. So because it would be hard to randomly start playing with the band, we decided it would be a better idea to have things prepared for people to just start playing.”

While the band is travelling to perform and help Hurricane Katrina victims, Molani is most looking forward to being surrounded by the music and experiences unique to New Orleans.

“Personally, I’m looking forward to experiencing the culture of the city,” Molani said. “I think it’ll be fun to see how different New Orleans is from Chicago, and playing jazz is going to be so much fun because we’re going to where that music was born. I’m also just excited to go on a trip like this and some of my closest friends, and I think it will be an amazing experience.”