Honors Jazz Combo

In 2017, the South Carolina Band Directors Association approved a proposal to start the SCBDA Honors Jazz Combo that will perform as part of the Master Recital Concert at the SCMEA Conference in Columbia.

The audition procedures and play-along track downloads are available below. If you have any questions regarding the clinic or the auditions, please refer to the SCBDA Honors Jazz Combo section in the Jazz Committee portion of the handbook or contact Ronnie Ward.

2026 SCBDA HONORS JAZZ COMBO

Congratulations to the following students selected to participate this year!

Name School Instrument Grade
Micah Achevarra Daniel High School Alto Sax 12
Quinn Moore Daniel High School Tenor Sax 12
Liam Coyle Wando High School Trumpet 11
Josiah Achevarra Daniel High School Trombone 11
Dante Criscitiello Charleston School of the Arts Guitar 11
Olivia Kirtley Ashley Ridge High School Piano 11
River Nimocks Stratford High School Bass 10
Freddy Pleis Stratford High School Drum Set 12

 

2026 COMBO CLINICIAN – BETHANY ROBINSON

Bethany Robinson is a Yamaha Performing Artist, GRAMMY Music Educator Award Finalist, NAfME Jazz Council Chair, a member of the Recording Academy, and serves on the Jazz Education Network Executive Board. She joined the faculty of Purdue University as the Director of Jazz in 2024 after building the jazz program at Noblesville Schools from 1 to 6 jazz ensembles, where the top jazz ensemble was a 2-time Jazz at Lincoln Center Essentially Ellington Finalist and Indiana ISSMA Jazz State Honor Band in 2023. She is also the Festival Director for the Purdue Jazz Festival, the largest college-run jazz festival in the country.

Robinson was the 2014 Indiana Jazz Educator of the Year, 2015 Noblesville Teacher of the Year, 2016 Indiana Teacher of the Year Semi-Finalist, named a 2022 Jazz Hero by the Jazz Journalists Association, and the 2023 Indiana Outstanding High School Music Educator of the Year. She is a 2-time Lilly Teacher Creativity Fellow, receiving grants to study jazz and culture in both the US (2011) and Brazil (2019). Bethany has co-led Indiana Jazz Girls Day since 2018, hosting workshops and side-by-side concerts for students around the state of Indiana to elevate student leaders through jazz.

Bethany has been a keynote speaker and presenter around the globe, including the Australia National Band and Orchestra Conference, International Midwest Band and Orchestra Clinic, Glasgow CREATE! in Scotland, and Indiana, Ohio, Oklahoma, Iowa and New York State Music Educator Conferences. Bethany was recently the guest conductor for the New York, Iowa, and North Carolina All-State Jazz Ensembles, and the chief adjudicator and guest artist for the Victorian Schools’ Jazz Festival in Melbourne, Australia and performed at Jazz Woche Jazz Festival in Hannover, Germany. She is a clinician and adjudicator independently and for Jazz at Lincoln Center, YAMAHA, Music For All, and an avid performer on upright bass, electric bass, and vocals.

 

SCBDA HONORS JAZZ COMBO

Directors, please see the SCBDA Handbook for information concerning:

  • Selection Process
  • Wind Instrument Audition Requirements
  • Guitar, Piano, Bass, & Vibe Audition Requirements
  • Drum Set Audition Requirements
  • Clinic and Performance Info
  • Evaluation Rubric

Accompaniment Track Downloads

Rubrics