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Del Rio High School's Jazz Ensemble 1 Strikes First Place at Jazz Along the Medina Festival!
DEL RIO, Texas—Del Rio High School Jazz Ensemble 1 hit all the right notes on February 22, 2025, when they took first place at the Jazz Along the Medina Festival. Under the direction of Mr. Aldo Morales and Mr. Eric Medina, these talented musicians showcased a program of four distinct jazz pieces.
“We prepared four selections,” Morales explained. “There are contrasting styles. One of them is, they’re all jazz styles. Jazz encompasses a huge amount of genres.”
Those four selections included:
“Nancy Jo” by Gerald Wilson
“Black Butterfly” by Duke Ellington
“Rent Party Blues” by Duke Ellington
“Misty” by Erroll Garner, arranged by Michele Fernandez
Morales said the group’s set was designed to highlight both the depth of classic jazz and the students’ versatility. “The opener was a bebop tune that was 240 beats per minute. Like, the tempo was really fast,” he said. “And then our second song was a ballad from the 1930s. The third was a foxtrot from the 1930s—‘Rent Party Blues.’ That’s a really, really cool piece. And the fourth one is a jazz standard called ‘Misty.’”
The journey to first place began long before the band took the stage. Students auditioned in May and began mapping out their repertoire over the summer. According to Morales, they pieced the program together bit by bit and kicked their preparations into high gear around November.
“So it wasn’t until afterwards that we started getting more serious with the music in November, December,” Morales said. “Right before we left for break, we picked the last two songs in our program because this is a program that we’ll play for all of our competitions. And so when we came back in January, we started working on the last two songs more heavily.”
Despite hectic schedules—some students even balancing jazz band, mariachi, baseball, and track—Morales praised the Mighty Ram Band’s commitment. “Since they’ve been playing at a high level for years, they already know what’s the level that we need to pick up the music at,” he noted. “These kids did great.”
Del Rio placed first among what Morales described as a strong group of competing schools, many of which featured Allstate musicians. “So the kids kind of knew that coming in—those kids were going to be featured heavily.”
This year’s top finish felt especially sweet. “Last year, it was the second time they had this festival,” Morales recalled. “We placed first several contests, but in one contest they ended up second. This time around they were happy that they feel vindicated with getting that top spot from all the schools in San Antonio.”
One of the highlights of the event was the number of Del Rio musicians recognized for individual excellence. Morales confirmed that 11 students received Outstanding Soloist Awards.
“During the program, they’ll be featured by themselves and then the judges are tasked to pick out from different groups which ones are the outstanding soloists,” Morales said.
Those honored were:
Saxophones: Edniel Garcia, Angela Fuentez, Abigail Ramirez
Trombones: Adrian Soto, Aaron De Luna
Trumpets: Alyssa Soto, Nelly Saldivar
Drums: Frenchey “Tres” McCrea, Daniel Ugas
Piano: Ana Acevedo, Leonardo Rivera
Each received a certificate acknowledging their exceptional performances.
The entire ensemble representing Del Rio included:
Saxophones: Edniel Garcia, Alejandra Martinez, Angela Fuentez, Abigail Ramirez
Trombones: Adrian Soto, Aaron De Luna, Neko Mojica, Francisco Zertuche, Jacob Calderon, Lia Kalinchuk
Trumpets: Nelly Saldivar, Renee Cordero, Jaiden Ortiz, Alyssa Soto, Abigail Cahero, Luis Cadena
Drums: Frenchey “Tres” McCrea, Daniel Ugas
Piano: Leonardo Rivera, Ana Acevedo
Bass: Luis Martinez
Even after this big win, the group's schedule remains packed. Upcoming events include the Essentially Ellington competition in Houston, followed by a two-day contest at Texas A&M University–Kingsville.
“We really are excited to kind of go and not only do the contest, but also do workshops and the stuff that we have to do there,” Morales said. “Then the big contest of the year after that is in Texas A&M University Kingsville because that one is a two-day contest. Usually around 45 groups compete and we’ve placed as high as second in that one.”
After that, they’ll set their sights on the St. Mary’s Fiesta Jazz Festival in San Antonio. “And then we’ll be doing also in May, a concert where we play our concert three times,” Morales added, “because we wanna record our tunes and submit them to the Texas Music Educators, the TMEA, to be able to perform at the convention.”
On behalf of the Connect Del Rio TEAM, congratulations to the Mighty Ram Band on their first-place finish, and best of luck in their upcoming competitions. Their win shows their dedication, teamwork, and a deep love of music—true hallmarks of Del Rio pride.
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