Joseph Igot represents FCS band by receiving Milestone Youth Scholarship

FCS band and choir went to the City Jazz Festival, March 23-24. After the festival was finished, a Fresno Christian junior high student, Joseph Igot won the Milestones Youth Camp Scholarship.

This award is given to three of the 500 students in attendance. Joseph was the only junior high student to receive this scholarship. The other two students that were given this award were in high school.

Igot’s teacher Lesley Bannister, is very proud of what her student was able to achieve during this festival. She is proud of how much he has grown this year and is thrilled for next year with him.

“Joseph is an extremely talented pianist,” Banister said. “He is only in seventh grade and he is already an accomplished musician. Jazz music is new to him, but he has picked it up quickly. I am thrilled to have him in band and look forward to seeing him grow as a musician.”

When the Jazz band performed, they opened with “Killer on the Keys“, which features Igot on the piano. It is a bluesy rock ‘n’ roll shuffle style that also featured Janae Shew on the trumpet and Austin Petersen on the alto sax.

It was then followed with “Little Sunflower,” a jazz standard that features a haunting melody with an alternating bossa and light funk groove. Trevor Trevino, ’17, had a drum solo, Igot played the keys, Nathan Martin, ’20, and Janae Shew, ’20, on trumpet, and Max Hinton, ’22, on tenor sax.

The band closed their set with “Touchin’ All the Basses”. It a piece with three distinct sections, a funky rock, a slow triple blues, and a hot shuffle. It featured Trevino throughout the entire piece on bass.

Igot is grateful that he was able to get the scholarship out of 500 other kids at the Festival. He is proud of the time and effort he put into practicing the piano for three months before the festival. 

“It feels great to earn a scholarship,” Igot said. “It makes me feel proud and accomplished because it made my parents happy and it could always help with my future. This accomplishment always makes me remember that God helped me with my performance and my hard work has paid off. I felt excited to take the lead with that song because I never took the lead before in our group.”

“It was an opportunity to showcase myself and represent not only the band but our school,” Igot continued. “My favorite part of band is performing songs that are harder than usual at different locations and learning new songs. I also like splitting up into sectionals where I am left in the rhythm section.”