asdasdThe Jazz Knights will join high school musicians on stage for the Warwick Pops Concert in February

Warwick — The Warwick Valley High School Music Department announced this week that the Jazz Knights of the United States Military Academy at West Point will be the guest artists for the annual Pops Concert. The concert will be held on Wednesday, Feb. 29, at 7 p.m. at Warwick Valley High School. The snow date is Thursday, March 1. For nearly a decade the music department has held a pops concert, featuring a variety of talented musicians from throughout the Hudson Valley, including several who have played on Broadway, at the Metropolitan Opera and in well-known ensembles nationwide. The Jazz Knights present the “best in big band favorites, popular music, original compositions and arrangements for jazz ensembles,” according to the group’s publicity page. Their performance schedule includes military and patriotic ceremonies at the military academy and throughout the country; year-round concert series at West Point: Trophy Point (summer) and Eisenhower Hall (winter); and several musical functions with the USMA Concert Band and Hellcats (drum and bugle corps). Last summer the Jazz Knights played at the Lycian Centre in Sugar Loaf as part of the Lycian’s Summer Concert Series. Because of their full calendar, WVHS Director of Bands Chris Persad said he was thrilled that the scheduling finally worked out. “It has taken three years to coordinate a date for this concert,” he said, “and we are excited to have this opportunity for our student-musicians to work with an ensemble of this caliber. And, of course, the community will be able to come out and hear the Jazz Knights right here in their own town.” In addition to the WVHS bands - Wind Ensemble, Jazz Band and Concert Band - the Pops Concert will include a performance by the WVHS Symphonic Orchestra and choral selections from the Meistersingers. The annual pops concert will be open to the public and held free of charge.