TCMS Jazz Band 2025

In only its third year of existence, the TCMS Jazz Band finished as State Runners-Up in the West Virginia Middle School Jazz Finalist Competition. The winner was Suncrest Middle School in Morgantown, who will perform at the State Music Conference in March as a result of their achievement.

Recordings of three tunes were submitted on Friday, January 31st and the band was scored out of 100 points in a number of categories by three judges. Although two of the judges actually scored TCMS higher than the winner, the combined scores narrowly put Suncrest Middle on top by three points.

The TCMS Jazz Band received many compliments on the excellence of their performance and are to be commended for this remarkable achievement. Tyler Consolidated director Matt Jennings remarked, “TCMS had never had a jazz band until 2023; we started from scratch. The fact that the ensemble has come from that to state-runner’s up in three years is absolutely amazing. This group is absolutely outstanding in every aspect. They are such a pleasure to teach and display a very high level of musicianship at every rehearsal. I can’t wait to see and be a part of their musical endeavors as they get older and move through the program.”