New Members in the All-State Jazz Band

Sophomore students compete for a spot in the TPSMEA All-State Jazz Band.

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Photo by: Ken Snow

Sophomores Aiden Ewing and Jackson Iseneker pose for a picture with their jazz instruments.

Sarah Krusing, Campus Editor

On November 13th, sophomores Aiden Ewing and Jackson Iseneker earned spots in the Texas Private School Music Educators Association All-State Jazz band. They competed against 16 other private schools in the area, such as Legacy Christian Academy, Prestonwood Christian Academy and the Greenhill school. Their audition consisted of 3 written pieces of music prepared beforehand and one improvisation piece.  The improvisation piece could be thought of as “instantaneous composition,” meaning they compose music on the spot. Ewing competed for a single spot on the jazz guitar and Iseneker competed to be one of five on the the trumpet. Both of these mustang band members received a spot. Iseneker said, “I can’t wait to learn how they are so good so I might do the same to make myself better. It is a great learning experience for a musician such as myself.” Band Director Ken Snow also added “ Both Aiden and Jackson have improved tremendously over the past few years on their instruments.  In fact, Aiden came to play in the MCA middle school jazz band two years ago and barely knew how to play the guitar and now he is winning a competition. That shows that he has an excellent work ethic and really loves the guitar. Jackson, earlier this year, was offered a scholarship to perform with the Greater Dallas Youth Orchestra and recently performed at the McKinney Performing Arts Center with world renowned saxophonist, Eric Marienthal.”