The 28th Annual Bellevue College Jazz Band Festival

General Schedule Information

BC’s Jazz Band, directed by Jim Sisko, will host the 28th annual Bellevue College Jazz Band Festival. There will be 40 Middle School, High School and College Jazz Bands and Combos participating over two days.

Schedule

Friday, February 6, will be an all-day event for Middle Schools from 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. Friday will come to an end presenting the top three schools with special recognition in addition to a special presentation of 8 individual awards.

Saturday, February 7, from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m., the High Schools will compete.  At 5 p.m. the top three schools will be selected for the evening concert. The evening concert will start at 8 p.m. with the top three high schools performing, followed by a performance by own BC Jazz Band with guest artist Ben Wendel.

Guest artist saxophonist Ben Wendel will be performing at a clinic on Friday & Saturday during the lunch hour as well as performing with the BC Jazz Band in the Saturday evening concert.

Award Announcement 

At the end of the Middle School and Junior High competition on Friday, three outstanding band awards will be presented as well as individual soloist awards. At the end of the day on Saturday, soloist awards will be announced, and three high school bands will be selected to perform in the evening concert. All high school bands, including those that perform on Friday are eligible to be selected as showcase bands on the Saturday evening concert.  Places are determined solely by the afternoon scoring.  The three showcase bands will lead off the Saturday evening concert, and the performance order will be determined by a random draw.

Traditionally, junior high and middle school bands have performed on Friday and high school bands have performed on Saturday.  If needed, we are happy to host a high school band on Friday if it helps with your travel arrangements.

QUESTIONS? – PLEASE E-MAIL:

Jim Sisko

jim.sisko@bellevuecollege.edu

Registration Information

Registration Deadline

Our 2027 Jazz Band Festival Registration is now open!

Payment

Payment may be made by credit card or check. An invoice will be sent after registration is complete.

Cost

• Jazz Band: $350.00 (includes 1 ticket each for Students and Directors for Saturday Evening Concert.)
• High School Combo: $70.00
• Additional Evening Tickets: $15 per ticket (Tickets may also be purchased soon through Brown Paper Tickets)

Click on the button below to start your registration.

Festival Highlights

1. FRIDAY: Middle/Jr High Schools – 9 a.m. to 5:30 p.m.: 20-minute performance, 35-minute clinic.
2. SATURDAY: High Schools – 8 a.m. to 5 p.m.: 25-minute performance, 45-minute clinic.
3. High School Combo Division.
4. Live streaming of daytime performances.
5. Directors will receive a link to recording of their performance and judge’s comments.
6. State of the art sound reinforcement.
7. Masterclass and performance by Guest Artist.
8. Competitive or “Comment-Only” option.
9. Awards will be given at the end of the day and evening concert.
10. Awards will include outstanding bands and outstanding soloists.
11. Saturday Evening Concert is free to all participants.

Ben Wendel, Guest Artist

GRAMMY nominated saxophonist Ben Wendel was born in Vancouver, Canada and raised in Los Angeles. Currently living in Brooklyn, NY, he has enjoyed a varied career as a performer, composer and producer. Highlights include tours, performances and/or recordings with artists such as Terence Blanchard, Bill Frisell, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Tigran Hamasyan, Antonio Sanchez, Gerald Clayton, Eric Harland, Taylor Eigsti, Linda May Han Oh, Moonchild, Louis Cole, Daedelus, Snoop Dogg and the artist formerly known as Prince. Ben is a founding member of the Grammy nominated group Kneebody. His 2023 record, All One , was nominated for a GRAMMY in the Best Contemporary Instrumental Album category. Edition Records will launch Wendel’s highly anticipated follow up album , Understory: Live at the Village Vanguard October 4, 2024.

Multi GRAMMY® nominated, Brooklyn – based saxophonist Ben Wendel was born in Vancouver, Canada and grew up in Santa Monica, California. His band in high school, a quintet called Tres Gatos, included Terrace Martin (the saxophonist and producer who as part of the Brainfeeder collective has worked with artists such as Kendrick Lamar and whose recent effort Gray Area involves Wendel) and Alfred Darlington (the electronic artist and producer known as Daed elus).

Both remain close associates, part of Wendel’s impressively – diverse circle. Throughout his career, the saxophonist has pursued a genre – neutral Yes – To – All approach to music. He’s recorded or performed with legendary hitmakers ( Prince, Snoop Dogg ) a nd jazz firebrands (Terence Blachard, Bill Frisell, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Tigran Hamasyan, Aaron Parks, Ignacio Berroa, Taylor Eigsti, Linda May Han Oh, Antonio Sanchez, Gerald Clayton ) and people whose work resists classification entirely (Louis Cole, D aedelus, Julia Holter, Moonchild, José James ).

As a composer, he has received an ASCAP Jazz Composer Award, the 2008, 2011 and 2017 Chamber Music America “New Works Grant” and was awarded the Victor Lynch – Staunton award by the Canada Council For The Arts. He also co – wrote the score for John Krasinski’s adaptation of David Foster Wallace’s “Brief Interviews With Hideous Men.” He has logged six separate weeks as the headliner at the Village Vanguard. Wendel is aware that this diverse range of activity makes him hard to pin down – a challenge that will only increase with the sweeping invention of Understory: Live at the Village Vanguard

Ben was honored to work with conductor Kent Nagano in producing a series of concerts for the Festspiel Plus in Munich, Germ any. From 2008 to 2015, he produced a multi – genre performance series at the Broad Stage in Santa Monica, California. During that time he was appointed the head of their Jazz and Blues initiative, which included producing and expanding performance opportuni ties for these genres in Los Angeles. As part of this appointment, Ben helped to create an artistic council which included such luminaries as Quincy Jones, Herb Alpert and Luciana Souza. Ben’s producer work includes the GRAMMY® nominated album “Life Forum” for pianist Gerald Clayton on Concord Records.

Ben has recorded for Edition Records, Sunnyside Records, Motéma Music, Concord Records and Brainfeeder, with six solo albums under his belt, Simple Song (2009), Frame (2012), What We Bring (2016) The Seasons (2018), High Heart (2020), All One (2023) a duo project with French – American pianist Dan Tepfer entitled Small Constructions (2013) and multiple Kneebody albums. His critically acclaimed music video project The Seasons, inspired by Tchaikovsky’s works of the same name, was released throughout 2015 and included guests such as Joshua Redman, Jeff Ballard, Mark Turner, Julian Lage, Ambrose Akinmusire and more. It was listed as one of the best releases of 2015 by the NY Times.

Ben is a former teacher of jazz studies at USC in Los Angeles and the New School in NYC. Educational outreach has been a constant in his career with over 350 masterclasses at various colleges, universities, high – schools and also previous work with the LA Philharmonic Artist Program.

Middle School/High School Bands & Combos Schedule

LIVESTREAM THE FESTIVAL

M.S. & Jr. High Bands: Friday 2/6/26

High School Bands: Saturday 2/7/26