Health & Fitness
Wheeling High School Jazz Band 1 Named Jazz in the Meadows Grand Champion
Wheeling High School Jazz Band 1 is the 2014 Jazz in the Meadows Grand Champion. This is Wheeling’s fourth Grand Champion title at JITM and the second in three years.
More than 110 jazz bands and combos representing 62 schools from five states participated in the 29th Annual Jazz in the Meadows Jazz Festival, the largest and most highly regarded jazz festival in the Midwest.
After wining Class AAA, for the 7th consecutive year, the Wheeling High School Jazz Band earned a spot in Finals. Finals featured the winning bands from four classes, based on school size. The Wheeling Jazz Band played “Dedication” by Thad Jones in the finals, featuring Patrick Ryan (sophomore-flugelhorn), Cesar Mendoza (senior-trombone), Paul Wagner (sophomore-baritone saxophone), Lewis Monaxios (freshman-tenor saxophone), and Eugene Yakubovich (junior-alto saxophone).
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The Wheeling Wildcat Jazz Band I includes Saxophone/Woodwinds—Eugene Yakubovich, Matthew Kulczak, Skyler McLenahan, Lewis Monaxios, Erika Pogorzelska, and Paul Wagner; Trumpet—Ronny Roth, Kyle Meier, Jesse Villalobos, Patrick Ryan, Billy Broms, and Forrest Kiehm; Trombone—Cesar Mendoza, Anthony Gonzalez, Gillian Garnowski, Steven Wagner, and Bryan Marban; Rhythm—Isabel Chan (piano), Patrick Ryan and Kyle Meier (guitar), Jacob Bachorski and Kyle Dorcey (bass), Dani Anderson and Matt Browne (drums & percussion); French Horn—Cole Dammeier and Lia Decoursey.
“This has been an exciting year for the Wheeling Jazz Bands,” said Band Director Brian Logan.
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In September the bands were awarded The Mark of Excellence Jazz Honors Project National Award. In December, the Jazz Band performed at the Midwest Band Clinic, an annual music conference with over 17,000 attendees. In January, the Wheeling Jazz Band performed as the Honor Band at the Northshore Jazz Festival, and recently the band received invitations to perform at the 2014 Montruex Jazz Festival (Switzerland), Umbria Jazz Festival (Italy), and the La Spezia Jazz Festival (Italy). Currently, the Wheeling Jazz Band is working hard to raise funds for the European performance tour in July. For more information about upcoming performances, contact Wheeling High School Director of Bands Brian Logan at 847.718.7111 or brian.logan@d214.org.
