Full Sail Stories

During Central Florida’s annual Orange Blossom Jazz Festival, middle school, high school, and college-level jazz bands from across the state perform for family, friends, and their community. And this year, Full Sail was able to contribute to the celebration of Florida’s music programs, serving as a production partner for the large-scale showcase. Full Sail provided professional sound reinforcement, video, and other technical production elements for the event, giving Full Sail students the chance to gain valuable real-world experience.

After attending the inaugural festival in 2024 to see his own child perform, Live Event Production Program Director David Dean saw an opportunity to help step up the production and offer students a unique opportunity to gain experience on the road.

“Full Sail is very generous,” says David. “They allow us to provide educational opportunities for our students, and this event was perfect because all the funds raised go directly to pay kids' band fees and for band camps.”

Now in its second year, the Orange Blossom Jazz Festival is a non-profit event led by Apopka High School band director Jeremy Langford, with support from Apopka students and parent volunteers. The festival is focused purely on performance, without adjudicators or awards, and raises funds to provide scholarships for summer music camps.

This year’s event welcomed nearly 50 jazz bands from across the state of Florida – including middle, high school, and college-level – giving students the opportunity to perform on a professional stage. Several of Florida’s top university jazz bands were featured as headliners, with performances from ensembles from University of Central Florida, University of North Florida, Florida State University, Seminole State College, and more.

As part of the weekend’s lineup, Full Sail’s Music Production faculty formed the Full Sail University Jazz Band. The group performed on the second day of the festival, sharing the stage with some of the most well-regarded collegiate jazz bands in the state and further showcasing the university’s commitment to music and production education.

For students working, the festival offered a high-pressure, high-reward environment; an ideal space to apply their training in real-time while serving the community.

During the two-day festival, 18 students and eight staff members provided lighting, video, and audio support. Working alongside high school student volunteers, the team helped run the event while representing Full Sail on-site with branded banners and two outreach tents along the festival’s Vendor Row.

“We even incorporated the high school tech kids into our crew,” shares David. “They helped stage-manage, while our students were doing five-to-seven-minute changeovers from band to band. These students accomplished a pro-level gig. I mean, there are a lot of professionals who will never do a 20-piece jazz ensemble. That is not an easy gig.”