The Southland Youth Jazz Band (SYJB) was formed in 2015 and features Southlands top young jazz musicians under the direction of Emma Jarman. Members of the Southland Youth Jazz Band are secondary aged school students who share a passion, enjoyment for, and high level of skill in contemporary and classic jazz playing.In 2017, the band travelled to the Southern Jam Youth Jazz Festival in Marlborough where they took away the Royal New Zealand Air Force Band Adjudicators Choice Award and a Bronze Award. In 2018 the band returned to the festival and received two Silver Awards for their ensemble and combo playing as well as having two members selected for the All-Stars Band. The SYJB is a highly versatile jazz ensemble. Their repertoire includes jazz classics such as Bernies Tune, Fly Me to the Moon, Four, Stormy Weather, Get Happy, and I’m Just a Lucky So and So; to popular contemporary hits such as Superstition (Stevie Wonder), Hard to Handle (Black Crowes), Wandering Eye (Fat Freddys Drop), Locked Out of Heaven (Bruno Mars), Africa (Toto), I Got You I Feel Good (James Brown), and Gold on the Ceiling (Black Keys).To date, the band has played at a variety of different events – from the South City Friday Night Food Market, Southland Festival of the Arts, Matariki Festival, and The Relay for Life, to private functions and special events such as the opening of the water treatment plant expansion for the ICC, Sunrise Rotarys 25th Anniversary Celebrations, The ILT Christmas Show, and pre-game entertainment for the Breakers Basketball game. If you are looking for a band with a load of enthusiasm, energy, and talent, with a wide variety of repertoire, then look no further than The Southland Youth Jazz Band!