Prairie High School jazz band attends the annual Jazz Festival Clark College on February 1, 2025, to perform what they learn throughout the year and to win amazing awards.
Clark College Jazz Festival is a three-day festival that occurs annually. Middle school and high school jazz bands perform and compete. For over 60 years, it has been one of the largest Jazz festivals in Washington state. Jazz educators judge the bands while they perform One jazz band in the program also has the opportunity to receive a coveted Sweepstakes Trophy. Prairie Jazz bands 1 and 2 participate in this festival yearly.
Prairie participated in the 4A division, which they usually don’t perform in but held to the best of their abilities. Jazz 1 was directed by Ryan Messling, while Jazz 2 was directed by Shaun Congos. Aubrey Grier, first chain lead alto saxophone player in the Prairie Jazz band 1, reveals what her favorite part of the festival is, and she says, “Coming in early to support our Jazz 2 and listen to their performance that evening, it’s always fun to see how other bands do to find areas where our band could improve.” Their hard work and dedication to detail paid off well. Aliza Cummins, bass trombonist, was also asked what her favorite part is, and she replied, “My favorite part was definitely the hanging out with people before and after, they’re always the best part of competitions. We just hung out, but we did get fourth place!” Team bonding is always important to have in a group.
Although Our Jazz bands didn’t get in the top three, Prairie did take a win with soloists as Ruth Sprenger and Grier won soloist awards “Outstanding Musicianship award for my solo in ‘It’s not polite to state’ is the award I won.” Grier adds. This was a very good win for Prairie and an even bigger accomplishment for the players.
Cummins is excited to do it again next year as she states, “Yes, of course I would. I’ve done this festival ever since 7th grade. It’s fun, and great memories are created.” For the Falcons, this year was a big hit, and they believe they did great, and that’s what matters. They can’t wait for what’s in store for them next year.
