News : Nicholas Gardner selected for the 2011 Iowa All-State Jazz Band

Nic Gardner

The Vinton-Shellsburg High School Band Department is pleased to announce that Nicholas Gardner has been selected for the 2011 Iowa All-State Jazz Band. Nick, a sophomore tenor saxophone player, will receive recognition at the 2011 Iowa Jazz Championships on Tuesday, April 12 at the Civic Center in Des Moines. He will then rehearse at Johnston High School in Des Moines on May 11 and perform at the 2011 Iowa Bandmasters Convention at the Des Moines Cities Ballroom Downtown Marriott Hotel on May 12. The class 3A Iowa All-State Jazz Band Concert will be under the direction of Dr. John Rapson. Nicholas is the first person selected for this honor in Vinton-Shellsburg school history. Mr. Smith stated, “I’m very proud of Nick, but I’m also very proud of all of the students that auditioned. Those students included Claire Andreesen on Alto Saxophone, Jared Gosse on Tenor Saxophone, and Megan Jorgensen on Trumpet. Each student was very impressive in making their audition tape and they should all be very proud.”

Students choosing to audition for the Iowa All-State Jazz Band submit a recording of their required etude, scales, and improvisation to a board of judges. The recordings are stripped of school name and identification, and are given a code number. Nick Gardner’s audition recording was selected as one of the only two total from all of the auditioning tenor saxophone players in class 3A from across the state of Iowa.