Iowa Jazz
Championships

The Iowa Jazz Championships showcases 60 of the state's finest high school jazz ensembles. It is held in Ames every April and features 15 groups from each of the four Iowa high school classifications. All ensembles perform in the daytime preliminary competition, and the top two bands from each classification perform in the evening finals competition. The event was founded by Iowa jazz educators in 1976 and continues to be an important event on the Iowa high school music landscape each spring.