Tonight there’s going to be a whole lot of rock ‘n’ roll coming from Coupeville High School and that couldn’t make Jamar Jenkins smile more.

Jenkins is the music program director for Coupeville Middle and High School — and, yes, he loves rock and roll. He hopes there’s people out there looking to rock, too.

“Any music is great as long as it teaches people an appreciation for it,” Jenkins said.

And any rock concert that helps raise money for music students, as a concert tonight will, is even better.

Seattle-area band Monday Loss and Olympia-based Budapest West will perform a benefit for the Coupeville music program.

“We hope to raise money to better the department and make it something more kids can be involved in,” Jenkins said. “It’s also an opportunity to raise awareness in the public about what we do and who we are.”

From a musical standpoint, Jenkins said that the Coupeville program is quite healthy. Plaques around the school brag of past Coupeville musicians’ success. The school consistently sends students to all-state band competitions. The school’s program performs and scores well at festivals and competitions such as the San Juan Music Educator’s Festival.

Jenkins sees future success of the program on a daily basis.

“We’re the smallest school on the island and continuously have talented kids coming through,” he said.

But just like other districts around the state, increased needs are growing just as fast as the music student population.

Beginning band, advanced band and a choir are offered at the middle school level.

For high schoolers, there’s a general band known as wind ensemble, chamber singers, pep band and jazz band — the latter two include middle schoolers.

Jenkins said the Coupeville music program has around 160 students of the approximate 700 student population participating and he’d like to see that grow.

At a recent conference of the Washington Music Educators Association, Jenkins met a number of other educators at comparably sized schools as Coupeville, and he found them to be in the same financial boat.

“We’re just like every other program out there,” Jenkins said. “We do alright with what budget we have but we could always use more because there’s always more we could do.”

The Coupeville program has a set of tympani that need to be replaced. New instruments such as a baritone saxophone, clarinets, percussion instruments and flutes are needed for students whose families can’t afford rental costs.

“No one should be left out because they can’t afford it,” Jenkins said.

There’s also a need for a new sound system and to expand the music library.

“We’re trying to shop for the highest quality so we can make everything last as long as possible, at the least expense,” Jenkins said.

But even then, things don’t come cheap and it seems like there’s always another dream list item. Take choir robes. Coupeville doesn’t have them.

“They make such as difference at competitions and concerts,” Jenkins said. “They can give kids such a sense of pride when they represent their school or perform.”

For 30 robes, Jenkins was recently quoted a price tag of $6,000. And that’s just the beginning if the choir increases popularity, such as the pep band did.

“We just bought 50 uniforms but already the program is expanding and we’ll need more,” he said.

The music program receives generous assistance from groups such as the Community Foundation for Coupeville Public Schools and typically holds candy and catalog sales in the fall as an annual fund-raiser. This is the first year for the benefit rock concert.

“This will be a really fun way for everyone to help be a part of raising money for the program,” Jenkins said. “It’s been good to find professional musicians out there so willing to give back to school music programs.”

Jenkins sees the possibility of making the concert and workshops with professional musicians an annual fund-raiser for the program. In subsequent years other genres of music could be explored, as well as expanding the workshops.

“We’re an arts community so it’d be nice to bring in a variety of quality musicians and guest instruction,” Jenkins said.

A boost for the program will be new music program digs that are expected to come with the completion of the new Coupeville High School in 2007. Jenkins said plans for the music department include enlarged music instruction areas, more storage space, practice rooms and even a recording studio.

“I’m excited by the possibility of involving more kids in music,” Jenkins said. “We also want the new music center to be something the community can come utilize.”

Students such as senior Ben Brown are expected to utilize that recording studio.

“He’s composed some serious orchestral works,” Jenkins said. “In our new space we hope to open up opportunity for kids such as him.”

Jenkins’ was a professional musician recording and touring for 30 years, and has been an educator for 25 years. It is Jenkins’ third year at Coupeville and he hopes to drive toward sustainability and continuity in quality.

“I want kids to be a part of this program,” Jenkins said. “I don’t want them to not play music because they don’t feel they fit into a concert band. I want to create an atmosphere that’s comfortable for them — I just want them to play and love it.”

Rock benefit

Rock bands, Monday Loss and Budapest West will play at 7 p.m. tonight in the Coupeville High School Performing Arts Center. All proceeds go toward the Coupeville Middle School/High School music program.

There will be a drum clinic 4:30 – 5:30 p.m. and guitar clinic 5:30 – 6:30 p.m. Clinics are free to concert ticket holders. See Activities on page B5 for ticket information.