Winning note at SCIBA jazz

By Bradey H.

On Saturday, December 9, the Roland-Story Jazz Band competed in the SCIBA Jazz Festival at Winterset High School. Put on by the South Central Iowa Band Association, this competition determines which schools in the district make it to the Jazz Championships. SCIBA Jazz can make or break a band. The top two bands automatically make it to the Jazz Champs, while the third-place band is put into a drawing that will give them a chance to play at State Jazz. 

To begin the season the Roland-Story Jazz Band started practice at the end of October. After an extended marching band season, the jazz band was a few weeks behind on practices. By the second week of practice, every part had been filled. Sections are: 

  • Trumpet: Skylar Blagg, Owen Johnson, Brooke Thompson, Kara Patterson, and Kaylee Koppes
  • Flute: Samantha Warnick
  • Trombone: William Licht, Cole Olson, Bradey Haberl, Evan Voga, Dash Isebrand, and Cecilia Slifka
  • Saxophone: Wrigley Propp, Samantha Sanderson, Aiden Tompkins, Kelsey Johnston, and Caleb Watson
  • Rhythm: Cael Vermeer on piano; Eli Van Hove, Ella Murphy, and Isabel Hoskins on drum set; Aubrey Britten on bass; and Mason Schnurstein on guitar.

Lexi Butler is this year's jazz band manager. The band’s three songs for this year, commonly referred to as charts, were chosen by director Kevin Masemann and were performed in the following order: “Hipper by the Dozen” by Al Horney, “Chicken Scratch” by Kris Berg, and “Hit the Bricks” by Gordon Goodwin.

Finally, the day of the competition came. The band loaded all of the instruments onto a van and piled themselves on the bus for the long drive to Winterset. After unloading all of the instruments, everyone listened to two other competing bands, Van Meter and Woodward-Granger. Next, the band went through some last-minute corrections before being ushered into the warm-up room to tune their instruments and practice any rough spots in the music. As their warm-up time ended, they were led to the stage for the big performance. After performing all three charts, they left the stage and were brought to the clinic room. In the clinic room, the band was given 20 minutes to hear different ways they could improve their playing and fix any mistakes they made that day from other music teachers.

As the band waited nervously in the same auditorium they had played in earlier that day, the Winterset band director walked onstage to announce the results. In fifth place was Des Moines Christian, fourth place was Ogden, third place was Madrid, second place was Woodward-Granger, and in first place was Roland-Story.

When asked, following the event, Mr. Masemann had this to say about the win: “All three songs that we played were the best that we had ever performed the selections. Every student stepped up to give their best performance at Winterset. The last chart was a home run for us.”

Along with the win, there were five outstanding solo awards. These outstanding soloists were Wrigley Propp, Aiden Tompkins, Samantha Warnick, Aubrey Britten, and Caleb Watson. Overall, the jazz band did a great job on Saturday. If you would like to listen to the band, their next competition is at the Best Western Starlight Village in Fort Dodge on Thursday, January 11.

Location: 624 Husky Dr, Winterset, IA 50273, USA

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