MILLINOCKET – Angela MacDonald almost avoided nervousness.

She was so busy Thursday preparing for the Maine Music Educators Association’s High School State Instrumental Jazz Festival that she nearly drowned her pre-performance jitters.

Almost, but not quite.

When she wasn’t photocopying festival paperwork, setting up performance venues within Stearns High School, marking audio tapes for judges’ commentaries, doing class work or practicing baritone saxophone or her singing, the 17-year-old senior occasionally felt butterflies dance in her stomach.

“I know there’s a lot of really good competition and sometimes I feel like we might embarrass ourselves because some people don’t care about it as much as others, so I get kind of nervous,” MacDonald said Thursday. “I mostly get nervous for the instrumental part. I wonder if there’s going to be a leak in my saxophone or something.

“I’m not as worried about my singing,” she said. “There’s not really anything that can go wrong with my voice.”

Starting at 11 a.m. today, 75 schools’ jazz duos, ensembles and bands from all over Maine, including Stearns’ and a band from Mattanawcook Academy in Lincoln, will perform in the competition at Stearns High School, said Kris Vigue, Stearns band director.

Many performances will run simultaneously in the school’s auditorium, gymnasium and library, allowing spectators to sample their favorite music styles or bands.

All forms of jazz will be played, with volunteers, including several Town Council and Millinocket School Committee members, acting as emcees.

The public is invited. Vigue estimates that as many as 3,000 people will attend the two-day event, with many long-distance travelers staying overnight in local lodging.

“We’ve got about 125 volunteers, students and adults, preparing for it,” Vigue said.

MacDonald said she hoped students’ efforts would make the town proud.

“Every year we have gone to this competition it’s been a blast,” she said. “It’s good to have other schools around here listening to other schools play. It’s a good experience, especially for the school that hosts it. It’s a profit to have a lot of people coming in to pay admission and enjoy the music.

“Hopefully if you did everything right before they get here, they will say good things about your school when they leave,” MacDonald said. “That’s always a good thing for a school system.”

Town Manager Eugene Conlogue had similar feelings.

“It has a huge economic impact in the area for food, lodging facilities, our stores, but more important for me it’s just one of those great yearly opportunities for young people to get together and do something positive,” he said.

MMEA High School State Instrumental Jazz Festival

WHAT: A statewide musical competition involving 75 high schools and as many as 3,000 students and attendees

WHERE: Stearns High School of Millinocket

WHEN: From 11 a.m.-9:20 p.m. today, with final awards ceremony at 10:15 p.m.; Saturday from 9:30 a.m.-2 p.m., with awards at 3:15 p.m. and finals at 6:30 p.m.

HOW MUCH: $5 for adults, $3 for students and seniors, $15 for families SOURCE: Maine Music Educators Association’s High School State Instrumental Jazz Festival