The HHS Jazz Band & The Tornado News Team Present

 “Sophisticated Lady”

The Tornado News Team and Harborfields High School Jazz Band continue their award-winning collaborative partnership with the creation of a 30-minute feature documentary paying tribute to the women who’ve shaped the music.

A tale in two parts, the video details the story of a newly-commissioned arrangement of Duke Ellington’s “Sophisticated Lady,” written by world-renowned low-brass specialist Jennifer Wharton as a feature for senior trombonist Alexa Best, and connects the voices of members of an unspoken sisterhood—numerous female HHS Jazz Band alums and current members—to bring important truths to light and celebrate women in jazz.

HF media student, Jack Wilkens, produced the videos and created the content on this page.

Praise for Sophisticated Lady

“I loved hearing the voices of these young women, empowered by music. There is so little on social media that feels truly hopeful and healthy—this is lovely.
Tierney Sutton, nine-time Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist

“The gender gap in jazz is the result of a series of historical and social barriers to equal participation. It takes courageous and engaged leaders like Dan Bilawsky to facilitate an inclusive and positive environment and future for his students!”
Monika Herzig, jazz pianist, educator, author, composer, arranger, SHEroes bandleader

“Yet another wonderful initiative from The Tornado News Team and Harborfields High School Jazz Band. Not only does this project provide a precious opportunity for the students involved, but it shines a light on lesser-known figures in jazz while celebrating the work of the acclaimed bass trombonist Jennifer Wharton.”
Nicky Schrire, jazz vocalist, educator, journalist and broadcaster (JazzFM.91, LondonJazz News, The Jazz Session)

“The inspiration, talent, nuance and confidence of young trombonist Alexa Best on Jennifer Wharton's beautiful chart is the perfect lead in to [where] these young women share deep insights about themselves and their experiences in jazz band. They are the embodiment of what WE know the jazz community brings to the table, and they candidly acknowledge the challenges of being female in a predominantly male genre. Dan Bilawsky sees the big picture here about women in not-just-jazz, but the world. His ability to reach them and empower them is a thrill to see."
Claire Daly, award-winning baritone saxophonist

“This 30-minute documentary moved me to tears because I know firsthand the uphill battle of being a woman in jazz, having started off as a trombonist myself and currently working professionally as a vocalist and pianist. [This work] not only amplifies the voices of these students and of women composers of yesterday and today…but points to forward motion and acknowledgement, What a delight to see the jazz youth of tomorrow excited for the future and feeling inspired. Bravi!”
Nicole Zuraitis, Grammy-nominated vocalist, pianist, songwriter and bandleader

“The thoughtful interviews and, yes, sophisticated musicianship in Sophisticated Lady culminate in a sense of optimism and possibility: while women in jazz continue to face unique challenges in the business, the women of Harborfields High School Jazz Band prove, without a doubt, that the future looks brighter than ever.”
Hilary Gardner, celebrated vocalist (solo, Duchess) and writer

“Congratulations and Kudos to Dan Bilawsky and the Harborfields High School Jazz Ensemble and students past and present for creating the mini-documentary Sophisticated Lady. Their film highlights a grassroots way to foster the evolution of the music by providing equal opportunities, and raising awareness of the experiences, contributions, challenges and benefits of being a young woman in jazz. Hearing firsthand experiences from these young women reinforces the significance of teachers, like Dan Bilawsky, who are enlightened enough to open musical opportunities for all, regardless of gender. For every extraordinary man in jazz, there is a woman who has done, or is doing equally excellent work…make sure your students know. Also congratulations to Alexa on her wonderful performance and Jen Wharton for her exciting new arrangement! ”
Sherrie Maricle, Music Director/drummer, The DIVA Jazz Orchestra


“Wow! This is such an inspiring and heartwarming documentary on the impact that music, education, and empowering all voices can have on a community. [It’s a] beautiful piece that serves as a reminder of why we do what we do, and how we can continue to make the world a better place through jazz education.”
Alexa Tarantino, award-winning jazz saxophone & woodwind artist, composer and mentor


“The moving testaments of [over a dozen alumnae] shows what a positive impact mentorship and advocacy make in someone's entire life, not just in the study of music.”
Nadje Noordhuis, celebrated jazz trumpeter, educator


“[This production offers] a thoroughly enjoyable look at how a committed and inspired high school music teacher created an ecosystem where young women jazz players can learn, grow and flourish. [It's] an astonigh how-to field guide for any educator who's interested in creating similar conditions of safety, encouragement and agency. Wow!”
Kate McGarry, Grammy-nominated jazz vocalist, educator

Harborfields Central School District

ENL Celebration 2023

In collaboration with the Tornado News Team, ENL teachers and students from ALL FOUR schools in the Harborfields Central School District, created videos to celebrate the “Past, Present, and Future” of the English Language Learners in our primary, elementary, middle, and high schools.

Each video debuted at the district-wide ENL celebration on March 28, 2023.

Harborfields ENL Students’ Tell Stories of Their ‘Past, Present, and Future’

Within the community, whose story do you hear the most? The typical answer would be the star basketball player or the valedictorian.  What you don’t hear is the students who have the struggle of moving to a whole new country, making new friends, learning a whole new language, and getting through new subjects in new classes.  Kids who have emigrated from foreign countries have the struggle of adjusting to a new culture and new language.  

English as a New Language (ENL), is a valued, yet often underappreciated program in the Harborfields community that helps students who have emigrated from foreign countries to learn English, as well as learn the culture.  English Language Learning (ELL) students face the dual challenge of learning a whole new language, while simultaneously having to learn the core subjects.  On top of that, ELL students have to make new friends in a school where the majority of their peers don’t speak the same language.  All of these students have to work twice as hard to produce the same results as the native born students, and the effort tends to go unrecognized.  

With the help of the Tornado News Team, the teachers and students of the Harborfields High School and Oldfield Middle School ENL programs set out to tell these students’ stories as part of the district-wide ENL celebration, “Our Past, Present, and Future.”  The hope was to shine a light on the ELL kids for the rest of the community, and hopefully beyond, about the hard work that these students do.  

To open a new window to the lives of the ELL kids, ENL teacher Mrs. Cervini organized studio sessions with Mr. Ambrosio and his Intro.  to Production class in which five Harborfields High School ENL students were interviewed.   The videos from the multi-camera studio sessions were edited into individual short films including footage from the students’ lives before coming to this country as well as clips featuring their experiences here at Harborfields.   

Segments from those individual films were then combined with clips of ENL students from Oldfield Middle School to create a feature film that was a key part of the annual district-wide ENL celebration in March.   In fact, Tornado News collaborative video projects from Washington Drive Primary School and Thomas J. Lahey Elementary School, respectively, opened the night highlighting the “past, present, and future” kids K-12.   These lead up to impassioned speeches by current seniors, Olivier Christ Jean-Pierre, Simon Qin, and Vanessa Martinez.   They each spoke about their futures and how the ENL program helped them to determine their direction after high school.  

One common theme amongst the seniors, who were interviewed after the event, was that learning English helped to open many different doors and opportunities for them to explore new hobbies and passions.  For example, for Simon, learning English allowed him to branch out and join new social events that might not have been an option before.  

“This program helps you to learn English, and after you learn English, it opens up a lot more opportunities.  Now you can talk to people, be involved in clubs, and communicate.  Like me, I joined the robotics club, and I take engineering.”

Olivier and Vanessa shared similar experiences about how learning English helped them to figure out a passion, something that they would like to do when they “grow up.” 

Learning English can cause such a big change in a non-native speaker's life.  That’s why the ENL program is so important, and why this program should be highlighted.  Many of these students had felt alienated from their peers at first, and highlighting this program brings light to their feelings.  It also helps to show them that they can do more than what they think that they can do.  

The ENL program has helped many kids immensely, and their teacher, Mrs.Cervini, is also a huge part!  Mrs.Cervini plays a huge role in the success of her ELL students.  The hard, hard work of the kids, in addition to Mrs.Cervini’s wonderful support and teaching, really pushes the kids to be the best that they can be.  “We have become a small family in this classroom.  I will always advocate for these students because they are so worth it.” Seeing this heartwarming and emotional reaction from their amazing teachers, helps to set the tone for the classroom.  

 It is crucial that the ELL students get to share their stories because they’re important members of the community, who deserve to be recognized just as much as any athlete or star student.  Be sure to check out the videos on this page, including the seniors’ speeches from the recognition night live-streamed recording, which are chaptered in the video.  

The HHS Jazz Band & The Tornado News Team Present

“The Wedding”

A wedding of two Harborfields programs—the HHS Jazz Band and The Tornado News Team—took place on January 14, 2022, when these two groups took a field trip to Our Lady Queen of Martyrs (in Centerport, NY) to record an arrangement of an Abdullah Ibrahim classic written for the band by three-time GRAMMY-nominated composer Alan Ferber. This event was the culmination of an idea long in the making. Here’s an inside look at a beautiful story and an amazing day…

 HFHS ENL Journeys of Determination

In coordination with the Tornado News Team’s Video Story Telling class, the teachers and students of Harborfields High School’s English as a New Language Program (ENL) have crafted these “Journeys of Determination” to celebrate the accomplishments of these amazing students and their families.

Executive Director Timothy Shim worked closely with Producers Wyatt LaFountaine and Omar Lee to bring Mrs. Cervini’s vision of telling these stories to life. Over the course of 6 weeks, these Tornado News Producers worked closely with Mrs. Cervini, Mrs. Atherton, and the ENL staff and students to craft questions, interview the students and staff, storyboard the videos, capture the footage in the Tornado News Team Studio, and edit the project in the studio classroom. This was a truly collaborative project that connected educational disciplines, bridged language barriers, and opened windows into the lives and stories of these ENL students on their Journeys of Determination!

View the FULL “Journeys…” video with Multi-lingual closed captions HERE!

Individual ENL Student BioPic Journeys

These individual biopics of Harborfields High School ENL students were edited by students in Mr. Ambrosio’s Intro. to Production: Video Storytelling class, in coordination with Ms. Cervini and the HS ENL program. Our hope was to create a platform to celebrate the students’ stories, their individual Journeys of Determination.