Woodbury and his buddies in the Crescent Super Band have been invited to perform at Wynton Marsalis' New York jazz club, Dizzy's, on the way to an even bigger gig - a coveted concert slot at the North Sea Jazz Festival.

The festival, at The Hague, Netherlands, is one of the world's largest and most prestigious jazz gatherings.

Oh, did we mention? Woodbury is only 18 - a recent graduate of Skyline High School. He and his Super Band-mates are drawn from top jazz programs in high schools from Brigham City to Park City to Provo.

Woodbury is serious about his music studies and feels fortunate to be part of the Super Band.

"The band I'm playing in really might be the best high school-age group in the country," Woodbury said. "Hundreds of groups from all over the world try out for the North Sea Jazz Festival, and we are one of only two student groups to be invited."

The Crescent Super Band is one of several musical ensembles sponsored by the Crescent School of Music, which is becoming a force on Utah's music education scene.

The school's director, Caleb Chapman - who conducts the Super Band - patterned the school after community music schools on the East Coast.

Chapman started the Crescent School of Music in 1998, soon after earning a music degree from Brigham Young University. The school provides a place for students to take private lessons and participate in auditioned groups that draw other earnest musicians. For music educators, it offers teaching facilities and a staff to handle the business end of music teaching.

"We do the recruiting and marketing and let the teachers focus on what they do best, which is teaching," Chapman said. "Musicians are not always the best business people."

The school has 1,000 students, and facilities in American Fork and Sandy, Chapman said. A 12,000-square-foot campus is under construction in American Fork, and plans are underway for a 20,000-square-foot campus in Salt Lake City, perhaps in the Sugar House area. When the new facilities are built, the school's name will change to The Music School, though the jazz band will keep the Crescent moniker.

Chapman regularly brings in accomplished musicians from around the country to work with students. Grammy-winning jazz saxophonist Jeff Coffin is one of several acclaimed artists teaching at the Crescent Band Camp in American Fork this week. Coffin said he is "amazed" by the Super Band and by the Crescent School of Music's programs.

"Honestly, I've never seen another program like it anywhere," Coffin said. "The level these kids are playing at is truly breathtaking - the musicianship, maturity and level of complexity of the music."

Chris Taylor, who runs a strong instrumental music program at Park City High School, said eight of his band students are involved at Crescent School of Music.

"It takes my top students and gives them a chance to play with others who are at an equal or better level," Taylor said. "That makes them stronger, and they come back with leadership skills that make my groups stronger."

The Crescent School of Music sponsors after-school and Saturday instruction appropriate for preparing young artists to enter conservatories and college music programs, but also caters to musical amateurs of all ages, said Chapman.

"There is a huge population of people that would like to be involved in music as a hobby," Chapman said. "Many would love to play in a jazz group, bluegrass band or community orchestra.

The new facilities will allow us to expand our offerings and cater to the adult market more than previously. Our philosophy is that music should be for the masses."

And for the super-talented - like the members of the Super Band. Coffin said the invitation to a world-famous jazz festival confirms the buzz he's been hearing about the Utah group.

The saxophonist regards the North Sea Jazz Festival as one of the world's top two jazz festivals, the other being the Montreal Jazz Festival. This year's featured artists in the Netherlands include Herbie Hancock, Cassandra Wilson, Bobby McFerrin and the Louis Armstrong Jazz Quartet.

But how prestigious, in Coffin's opinion, is the Crescent Super Band's invitation to perform at one of the festival's 15 venues?

"For a high school? It's unbelievable."