Band making 15th consecutive appearance at Iowa Jazz Championships
The Glenwood Community High School Jazz Band has earned a spot in the Iowa Jazz Championships (IJC) for a 15th straight year. The 43rd annual Iowa Jazz Championships will take place April 5, in Ames.
The Glenwood band, under the direction of Dan Schoening, has placed in the Top 10 in each of its 14 previous appearances and in the Top 5 three of the past four years.
“The Iowa Jazz Championships are considered to be a unique event nationally due to the format and caliber of performances,” Schoening said. “The annual state championship event invites the top 15 jazz ensembles for each class 1A – 4A (60 bands total), bringing together many of Iowa’s finest young jazz musicians to compete in one of the largest one-day festivals in the nation.”
Schoening said jazz bands qualify for IJC through district and independent qualifying festivals. Each jazz ensemble performs a 20- minute set before a panel of three judges during the competition. The top two performing groups from each class will then compete that evening in Stephens Auditorium for the IJC state titles.
The competition in Ames will cap a highly-successful year for the GCHS Jazz program. This year, the band received a straight Division I rating at the IHSMA Jazz Festival, second place at the Bluffs Jazz Festival, second place at the District Jazz Festival and first place at the Lewis and Clark Jazz Festival.
Glenwood students receiving outstanding soloist awards this year include Devin Geeser, Sydney Major, Henry Gray, Turner Reich and Gavin Rodgers.
Additionally, Geeser received the overall outstanding soloist for the day at the Lewis and Clark Jazz Festival.
The Glenwood band will perform in Ames at 2:15 p.m. in the Scheman Building on the campus of Iowa State University. The afternoon award ceremony will take place in Stephens Auditorium at 5:15 p.m. and the championship concert will begin at 7 p.m. Admission to the daytime competition is $10. The evening finals competition is free.
The Iowa Jazz Championships are a cooperative effort of Iowa Jazz Championships, Inc., Jazz Educators of Iowa and the Iowa Music Educators Association.