The Northwinds Homeschool Jazz Band 1 recently traveled to Vancouver for the Clark College Jazz Festival. Clark College has been host to one of the largest jazz festivals in Southwest Washington for 54 years and attracts more than 60 middle and high school instrumental jazz ensembles for the three-day competition. During the day, groups perform to a panel of adjudicators composed of jazz educators and performers. Those invited to the evening finals competition are ranked for first, second and third place.
Under the direction of director Dan Tutton, 19 homeschooled youth from Sequim, Joyce and Port Angeles competed in the first round against nine “A” Division schools from Washington and Oregon. After advancing to the finals, Northwinds Jazz 1 competed against Creswell and La Center High Schools and Northwinds Jazz 1 was awarded second place.
Jazz Band 1 members include Clarisse and Sibyl Finman on percussion; Jehannah Sollmann on bass; Natalie Luengen on piano; Adam Kennedy, Joseph Sollmann, Telecia Busby and Moriah Beglyakov on trumpet; Jared Fodge, Jacob Kennedy, Tehya Busby, Josh Little and Isaac Moon on trombone; Tristan Lowman and Aidan Henninger on tenor sax; Mia Busby, Claire Henninger and Mika Busby on alto sax; and Reuben Moon on baritone sax. Two students received Exceptional Musician Awards: Adam Kennedy (15) of Port Angeles for his trumpet solo and Claire Henninger (15) of Sequim for her alto saxophone solo.
Northwinds Homeschool Band is a nonprofit band program dedicated to offering musical instruction and development to students ages 9-19. The program has been in existence the past 16 years and has trained over 200 musicians. The group is composed of six bands: Concert, Jazz 1, Jazz 2, Intermediate, Advanced and Beginning. The ensemble has performed over 100 times, locally and nationally. The band meets twice weekly for practice and offers public concerts semiannually, in addition to attending competitions regularly throughout the year.
The next free public concert for Northwinds Homeschool Band will be at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 17, at Independent Bible Church, 116 E. Ahlvers Road, Port Angeles.
For more information about Northwinds and the programs offered along with videos of band performances, visit www.northwindshomeschool.org.
As part of their fundraising efforts, band members sell hanging flower baskets annually. Pre-order your baskets by contacting Ann Henninger at 461-5531 or amhenninger@gmail.com.
