The Temple University Jazz Band was awarded first place in a national jazz competition against the country’s nine other top collegiate jazz bands.
As the first place winners of the 2026 National Collegiate Jazz Championship, Temple University Jazz Band has a reason to toot its own horn.
Held over the weekend of Jan. 17 and Jan. 18, the competition took place at Lincoln Center in New York City and was hosted by Jazz at Lincoln Center and world-renowned trumpeter and composer Wynton Marsalis. The band, composed of undergraduate and graduate students from Boyer College of Music and Dance, is directed by award-winning trumpeter and Director of Jazz Studies Terell Stafford.
“Boyer College of Music and Dance is immensely proud of the Temple University Jazz Band and the dedication and hard work of its uniquely talented musicians,” said Robert Stroker, vice provost for the arts and Joslyn G. Ewart dean of the Boyer College of Music and Dance and the School of Theater, Film and Media Arts. “Boyer’s jazz program is a treasured part of the vibrant arts scene of this university and this city.”
The band played “I Got It Bad (And That Ain’t Good)” and “Second Line” by Duke Ellington and “Windows” by Chick Corea, which was arranged by Ted Nash, a new Boyer faculty member and former member of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
“Right before we played in the finals, Terrell Stafford told us to play with our hearts,” said Jacquee Paul, a Class of 2026 jazz voice performance major at Boyer who performs vocals in the band.
The Temple University Jazz Band and individual students in the band also received awards in the following categories.
- Outstanding Rhythm Section
- Outstanding Trumpet Section
- Outstanding Combo Performance
- Outstanding Piano—Anthony Aldissi
- Outstanding Drums—Mekhi Boone
- Outstanding Clarinet—Sam Chung
- Outstanding Clarinet—Zach Spondike
- Outstanding Alto Saxophone—Ray Kaneko
- Outstanding Tenor Saxophone—Kiara Rouse
- Outstanding Trumpet—Levi Rozek
- Outstanding Trumpet—Jesse Deems
- Outstanding Vocals—Jacquee Paul
- Honorable Mention Combo Arrangement—Richard Larouech
- Harry Carney Good Citizen of Jazz Award—Zach Spondike
- Earl Hines Outstanding Musician Award—Graham Kozak
Zach Spondike, a Class of 2026 music education major, received the Harry Carney Good Citizen of Jazz Award because he played as a last-minute baritone saxophone substitute for another school’s band whose player got sick, and also substituted for another player in the Ted Nash Big Band at the Jazz Educator’s Conference in New Orleans the previous weekend.
The Temple University Jazz Band has a history of success at the National Collegiate Jazz Championship, coming home with first place in 2020 and second place in 2022 and 2023. This year, Temple competed among the country’s top 10 collegiate jazz bands, hailing from Eastman School of Music, Huston-Tillotson University, Michigan State University, North Carolina Central University, Northwestern University, The Ohio State University, University of Central Florida, University of South Carolina and University of Texas at Austin.
While the competition was an opportunity for students to display their hard-earned skills, it was also a chance for students to meet other talented young musicians from around the country. During a recent interview on WRTI’s The Late Set, Stafford said he encourages each student to meet at least one other student from a competing school when they’re at competitions and that he wants Temple students to be “cheering louder for another band than they cheer for themselves.”
He also spoke about the importance of bringing young musicians into environments such as the National Collegiate Jazz Championship in which they can understand the jazz community. “If you lose, you still won because you’re there,” he continued during the interview.
Stafford has also led the band as they’ve shared their talents around the world. During students’ spring break in 2025, the band went on a five-day tour of Japan, which included a recital concert at Hitotsubashi University and culminated in a performance at renowned Tokyo nightclub Akasaka B-flat. The Akasaka B-flat performance was recorded and will be released on CD as Live from Japan, volume 1 on Feb. 6 by BCM&D Records, Boyer’s record label.
In March, the band will return to Japan for performances in Kyoto and a full concert performance at Billboard Live Tokyo, which will also be recorded with the intention of releasing it as volume 2 of Live from Japan. In July and August, the band will make its first trip to Europe for performances in Italy, France and Spain. They will begin the trip with performances at Temple Rome, followed by performances at the Jazz in Marciac Festival, the Santander Music Festival and the Xàbia Jazz Festival.
Following their win, the band is celebrating their success, but they won’t be resting on their laurels any time soon.
“I'm excited to solidify the music with this band,” said Anthony Aldissi, BYR ‘24, a second-year student in the master of music in jazz studies program. “I think every month it sounds a bit better, and I’m sure by our upcoming trips it'll be even better than that.”