Ron Caviani Memorial Jazz Concert on Monday
Members of the Kingsford band under the direction of Marc Rose — from left, in the front row are Dimitri Gayan, Samuel Lamirand, Morgan Sleik, Nathan Johnson, Gracie Hilyard, Ingrid Holt, Chloe Roell and Jesse Garvaglia; middle row, Jaivas Hudson, Riley Dukes, Bella Wery and Serenity Steinke; and back row, Samantha Wilson, Clara Anderson, McKenzie Lancour, Micah Flunker and Daniel Arcand.
ron Mountain band, under the direction of Craig Recla — from left, in front are Bella Person, Elena Nelson, Benjamin Truong, Sadie St. John and Jaxon House; second row, Lucy Baumgartner, Laci Miles and Lilah Schafer; third row, Georgia Mundy, Juliana Tapio, Kadence McLaren, and Jax Ehrdardt; in back, Tim Recla.
Members of the Kingsford band under the direction of Marc Rose — from left, in the front row are Dimitri Gayan, Samuel Lamirand, Morgan Sleik, Nathan Johnson, Gracie Hilyard, Ingrid Holt, Chloe Roell and Jesse Garvaglia; middle row, Jaivas Hudson, Riley Dukes, Bella Wery and Serenity Steinke; and back row, Samantha Wilson, Clara Anderson, McKenzie Lancour, Micah Flunker and Daniel Arcand.
ron Mountain band, under the direction of Craig Recla — from left, in front are Bella Person, Elena Nelson, Benjamin Truong, Sadie St. John and Jaxon House; second row, Lucy Baumgartner, Laci Miles and Lilah Schafer; third row, Georgia Mundy, Juliana Tapio, Kadence McLaren, and Jax Ehrdardt; in back, Tim Recla.
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IRON MOUNTAIN -- The 21st-annual Ron Caviani Memorial Jazz Concert will take place at 6 p.m. Monday in the Iron Mountain High School Auditorium.
The concert will feature high school jazz bands from Iron Mountain and Kingsford, as well as a student-led jazz combo from Kingsford High School.
The concert is hosted by Craig Recla, Iron Mountain Schools director of bands. Admission to the concert is free, but donations will be accepted. Proceeds will go towards the Ron Caviani memorial scholarship fund, which each year provides a college scholarship to a local jazz student musician.
Caviani was a native son of Iron Mountain and a major figure in jazz education as well as a gifted composer. After teaching at Northern Michigan University and the University of the Pacific in California, he retired in the mid-1990s to Iron Mountain. He then began visiting the area schools to share his knowledge of jazz with programs in Iron Mountain, Kingsford and Norway. The jazz bands would not be where they are today without his assistance, Recla noted.
The first concert was held in November 2003 at IMHS and ended with Caviani playing a medley of jazz favorites -- his last time at the piano. He passed away just two months later, in January 2004. Since that first concert, 20 scholarships have been awarded to jazz musicians from schools where Caviani was very active in working with their jazz programs.
"This year's program will seek to raise funds to not only fund the 2025 Caviani scholarship but also to grow the scholarship fund so we can increase the award in the future as college expenses climb," organizers said.
Donation checks can be made to the Dickinson Area Community Foundation-Caviani Fund.