Parkland jazz band's first performance since shooting
(Photo by Joe Raedle/Getty Images)
PORT ORANGE, Fla. (AP) - The Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School's jazz band has played its first performance since a Valentine's Day school shooting killed 17.
The band received a standing ovation Saturday at Port Orange's Lakeside Jazz Festival. More than 80 ensembles from schools across the country performed.
Director Matt Calderin says jazz is the perfect release for the students and a freeing way to express their pain and suffering.
Malinda Chamberland wore the school's burgundy colors as she cheered from the audience. Her daughter is a freshman saxophone player.
She told the Daytona Beach News-Journal that attending practice after the shooting gave the students camaraderie and focus.
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Information from: Daytona Beach (Fla.) News-Journal, http://www.news-journalonline.com