Iowa Jazz Championships

About

The Iowa Jazz Championships showcases 60 of the state's finest high school jazz ensembles.  It is held in Des Moines every April and and features 15 groups from each of the four Iowa High School Music Association classifications.  All ensembles perform in the daytime competition, and the top two bands from each classification perform in the evening finals competition.  The event was founded by Iowa jazz educators over thirty years ago and continues to be an important event on the Iowa high school music landscape each spring.

Date

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Performance Locations

• Classes 1A, 2A, and 3A (daytime): Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center at Veterans Memorial (part of the Iowa Events Center), in Des Moines, IA.
• Class 4A (daytime): The Des Moines Civic Center, in Des Moines, IA.
• Evening finals: The Des Moines Civic Center, in Des Moines, IA.

Tickets

• Tickets for the day competition are $10 and cover admission to all day time performances at both locations.  Tickets are for the day contest are not sold in advance.

• Tickets for the evening finals are $10 and may be purchased from the Civic Center Box Office at (515) 243-1285.  The evening finals begin at 7:00 p.m. and feature the top two bands from each class.

Invitations and Eligibility

All Iowa high school jazz programs are eligible for an invitation to the Iowa Jazz Championships.  

Automatic invitations are issued to the first and second place bands in each class of the six district jazz festivals.  In districts where there are only two bands in a class, only the first place band is issued an automatic invitation.  In districts where only one band competes in a class, that band is issued an automatic invitation.  Each district is empowered with operating their own district jazz festival to determine automatic qualifiers.

Wild card invitations are determined by the Iowa Jazz Championships Board of Directors every March (usually on the second Sunday).  Bands become eligible for a wild card invitation by meeting one of the three necessary criteria:

1. Beat a band that is an automatic qualifier at an independent jazz festival in Iowa.
2. Win an independent jazz festival in Iowa with at least two bands in that class.
3. Finish 3rd in a district jazz festival with at least four bands entered.

Only bands meeting at least one of these criteria will be considered for a wild card invitation. 

There are typically three wild card invitations issued per class (12 automatic qualifying bands plus 3 wild card bands for a total of 15 bands in each class).  If a class has fewer than 12 automatic qualifying bands, additional wild card invitations may be issued.  

There is no system of points for determining wild card invitations.  The Board of Directors of the Iowa Jazz Championships evaluates all eligible bands and selects the most qualified bands based on results from all submitted jazz festivals.

Board of Directors

The Board of Directors of the Iowa Jazz Championships is comprised of the directors of the top three bands in each class from the previous year.  The board is charged with selecting co-chairs, a treasurer, approving an annual budget, dealing with logistical issues, and selecting wild card bands.

IJC Co-Chairs

• Alan Feirer
  
• Jason Pentico
  
• Steve Shanley
  

Please contact one of the Co-Chairs with any questions, comments, or concerns relating to the Iowa Jazz Championships.

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