KHS musicians shine at jazz festival
Kellogg High School Choir Director Adam Ream guides the KHS Jazz Choir during a performance at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival last month at the University of Idaho. The KHS Jazz Choir won the small school competition at the festival.
Courtesy photo
KELLOGG — Students in Kellogg High School’s jazz choir were recently recognized as one of the best groups in the region after winning at the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival at the University of Idaho.
KHS Performing Arts Director Adam Ream has had a steady run of success at the festival, for both the choir and the school’s jazz band. This year marked the jazz choir’s second win since 2023, while the jazz band won in 2022 and 2024.
Ream said the festival has three classifications, all based on school size. His jazz band and choir compete, and win, in the festival’s smallest division, or schools with 499 students or fewer. Kellogg High School has an enrollment of 268 students.
This year, 79 schools representing seven states and Canada participated at the festival, spending three days performing, attending workshops, clinics and enjoying concerts from premier jazz artists. This year’s performances were by Take6, the Jeff Hamilton Trio and the Lionel Hampton Big Band.
KHS junior Timothy Baugh was awarded Outstanding Musician as the jazz band’s lead trumpet.
“I'm really proud of all of the hard work they put into this school year,” Ream said of his students. “Especially when the semester started with a long-term sub.”
The festival, which is nearing its 60th anniversary, began as a single-day event but has grown into a three-day jazz destination that attracts hundreds of students to Moscow each April.
It is named after American jazz musician Lionel Hampton, who is also the namesake of the University of Idaho’s school of music. Hampton passed away in 2002.