All 600 students turned out December 9 for a presentation by the Rodney Marsalis Philadelphia Big Brass during just the second all-school assembly in the Neal Math and Science Academy’s still-new building in North Chicago. Band Director Nathan Massa couldn’t have been happier at every step.

That appearance, and another for the band and choir students at the nearby North Chicago Community High School, came a day after Marsalis’s group performed as part of the Ravinia’s Winter Weekend and took place under the auspices of the Highland Park organization’s Reach Teach Play education and community engagement program.