The Lisbon Jazz Band qualified for the Iowa Jazz Championships Wednesday, April 5 at Iowa State University.
Lisbon will be competing against 14 other 1A schools from around the state. Lisbon High School band director Joseph Arch explained that Iowa is split into six districts, with each sending two schools, and an additional three schools from across the state will receive wild card bids.
“I am looking forward to the students (and myself) getting to perform at the highest level music competition in the state of Iowa,” Arch said. “We qualified for the Iowa Jazz Championships back in 2020, but Covid cancelled the 2020 and the 2021 competitions. As a result, only two or three of my kids even have the prior experience of doing this competition. It will be good for the program to go, and maybe we will come back with some nice hardware.”
Lisbon has competed in a number of jazz band competitions over the season, including the IHSMA State Jazz Band festival, where the group received a Division 1 rating. The band placed first at the Tallcorn Jazz festival and first at NEIBA District Jazz competitions. The band also performed at the Coe Jazz Summit.
Arch wants the community to put April 23 on their calendars as well. That will be the final concert of the year, set for 7 p.m. in Lisbon Auditorium.
“We will be playing our Lisbon guest artist concert at that show, where we bring in professional musicians from the area to come and perform with the band,” Arch said. “If you are in the area, this is an incredible show, and well worth coming out for.”