Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Ensembles, June 9, 2026 & Ballard High School Jazz Showcase featuring special guest trombonist Dr. Javier Nero, June 10, 2026
- 7 hours ago
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Dimitriou's Jazz Alley welcomes the Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Ensembles. Doors open at 6pm. Showtime at 7pm.
Enjoy an evening of jazz with our future, current, and past Mountlake Terrace High School jazz musicians. The performance will feature Mountlake Terrace Jazz Ensembles 1 and 2, Alumni Band, and Brier Terrace Middle School Jazz Band.
The Mountlake Terrace High School Jazz Ensembles are part of a nationally recognized jazz program. Jazz Ensemble 1 have performed in the Essentially Ellington Jazz Band Competition in New York 11 times, starting in 2000. This includes a trip this year to compete against 19 of the nation’s best high school jazz bands. They have appeared in almost all Starbucks' Hot Java Cool Jazz concerts held at the Paramount Theatre. Both Jazz Ensembles 1 and 2 are honored regularly at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival in Moscow, Idaho, and Newport Jazz Festival in Bellevue. Students have received top solo and group honors at regional and national competitions, and have been featured in All-State and All-Northwest music groups.
This year, Luca Manzo, junior Jazz 1 drummer, was selected for the 2026 Washington All State Jazz Band. Sophie Ionitsa, sophomore Jazz 1 pianist, was selected to perform in the Next Generation Women in Jazz Combo -- featuring top high school women jazz players who will perform at the Monterey Jazz Festival this September.
The Jazz Ensembles are under the direction of Mr. Darin Faul, Mountlake Terrace High School Band Director.
Joining the Mountlake Terrace Jazz Ensemble 1 are Mountlake Terrace Jazz Ensemble 2, under the direction of Mr. Steve Korn, Mountlake Terrace High School Alumni Band, featuring top area jazz professionals, and Brier Terrace Middle School Jazz Band, under the direction of Mr. Andrew Sumabat.
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/JhQaJuGUOd4
Ballard High School Jazz Showcase featuring special guest trombonist Dr. Javier Nero
June 10, 2026
The Ballard High School jazz program is one of the premier high school jazz programs in the Pacific Northwest. They have been featured at the Essentially Ellington competition, Hot Java Cool Jazz, the Monterrey Jazz festival, Reno Jazz Festival, Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival, and the many others. Ballard High School performs regularly around the Pacific Northwest and is composed of highly dedicated musicians from Ballard High School.
Ensembles include Jazz Band 1, Jazz Band 2, Jazz Band 3, Ballard Brass 1, Ballard Brass 2, Jazz combo, and Vocal Jazz. Students in these groups spend countless hours in and out of class preparing highly difficult repertoire and learning how to improvise within the jazz idiom.
Courtney Rowley, Director of Vocal Jazz, is in her 19th year as Director of Choirs at Ballard High School, where she directs the Concert Choir, Advanced Chorale, Treble Choir, Vocal Jazz, Chamber Choir, and Tenor Bass Ensemble, vocal directs the annual musical theatre production, and teaches AP Music Theory. Under her direction, the Ballard choirs have grown from 36 students to over 150 students and have consistently received Superior ratings at both regional and national choral festivals.
Jay Gillespie has been Director of Bands since 2020 at Ballard High School, where he leads three concert bands, a jazz ensemble, a percussion ensemble, and a New Orleans style brass band he developed, the first of its kind in Seattle high schools. Under Mr. Gillespie’s direction Ballard’s bands, ensembles and soloists have been recognized with awards and top ratings from the Elliott Bay Music Educators Association, the Bainbridge High School Puget Sound Jazz Festival, the Auburn Veterans’ Day Parade, the Ballard Syttende Mai Parade, the Quincy Jones Jazz Festival and the Grand Floral Parade in Portland.
VIDEO: https://youtu.be/KI5P5qc19Lk
UPCOMING SHOWS
Ballard High School Jazz Showcase ft. special guest trombonist Dr. Javier Nero | June 10
Judith Hill | June 11 – 14
Joey Alexander Trio with Special Guest vocalist Laura Anglade | June 16 – 17
Jazz Funk Soul Quintet ft. Jeff Lorber, Everette Harp, and Paul Jackson Jr. | June 18 – 21
Louis Hayes | June 23 – 24
Lisa Fisher & Grand Baton | June 25 – 28
Pearl Django – New CD Release Celebration | June 30 – July 1
Advanced table purchases/reservations can be made on our website at jazzalley.com or by phoning Jazz Alley at 206-441-9729 and are always advised. Purchases are non-refundable. All shows are all ages. Full menu available at all shows and dining is optional. FREE PARKING night of show https://www.jazzalley.com/www-home/directions.jsp
