Band takes first at Indian Hills Jazz Festival

Luke Goodman (l) and Elijah Bryan (r) practice for the Indian Hills Jazz Festival on Feb. 25 where they earned first place in the 1A Division.

by Vincent Bushong

Montezuma showed its abilities in the arts by winning the 1A division of the annual Indian Hills Jazz Festival on Saturday, Feb. 25. 

Under the direction of Scott Stanton, Montezuma’s high school band competed against two other 1A schools, Van Meter and Moulton-Udell, for the title. This year’s festival was held in Ottumwa’s Bridgeview Center. 

The Montezuma band, which acts as the school’s concert, rock, jazz and pep band, performed three songs at the festival: “Swing Machine” by Larry Neeck, “Deja Blues” by Scott Stanton and “Abaco” by Scott Stanton. 

A panel of three judges critiqued the performance based on the categories of rhythm, ensemble, interpretation, improvisation and programming and rated the band on a scale of one to four, with one meaning excellence.

“The band performed admirably; we peaked at the right time,” Stanton said. “Other directors and adult musicians who have heard our band couldn’t believe how much we’ve grown in the past four years. We’ll keep building upon our success for future years of performance.”

The members of the award-winning band included seniors Elizabeth Ostrem, Natalie Wheeler and Nathan Wheeler; juniors Mariah Hirsch, Norman Martin, Colton Tompkins and  Kayla Werner; sophomore   Elijah Bryan; freshmen Vincent Bushong, Jade Crandall, Seth Fahlenkamp, Luke Goodman, Clara Johnson, Trevor Moyer, Sidney Roorda and Shayla Townsend; and eighth grader Jake Shaver.    

In addition to winning the 1A division overall, Montezuma was awarded an honorable mention for best soloist award. The recipient of the award was Elijah Bryan, one of the band’s guitar players.

“There were many other great soloists in the 1A division,” Bryan said. “I was excited to receive the prize.”