Jazz bands from Mid-Prairie and Winfield-Mt. Union High Schools are headed to the Iowa Jazz Championships in April, after competing at the recent district competition at Iowa City West High School. Mid-Prairie finished second at districts in class 2A, while W-MU took second in class 1A. Both are automatic qualifiers for the championships. There will be 60 jazz bands from around the state competing at the event, with 15 bands per class. The top eight in each class receive trophies, and there will be four individuals per class honored as outstanding soloists.

Mid-Prairie has finished as high as eighth in the past, but Jazz Director David Kunz believes he has a special group that can make some noise this year. Freshman trombone player Ty Waters was named outstanding soloist in class 2A at districts. Leading up to the championships, Kunz plans to bring in some outside help, “We’ve had several clinicians work with the band, and I’m going to try and get at least one more jazz artist/teacher/educator to come work with the band in the next few weeks to give their insight. That always helps us grow as a band, I learn things when I’m around experienced jazz educators, too.”

Winfield-Mt. Union was the class 1A champions in 2016, and they are making their seventh straight appearance at the championships. This year, they placed first at the Coe College Jazz Summit, and second at the Tallcorn Jazz Festival.

The Iowa Jazz Championships will be held at Iowa State University on April 4th. Mid-Prairie will perform at 11:30 a.m., while W-MU will take the stage at 3:45 p.m.