Each year, thousands of musically talented students from around the globe come together in Monterey, Calif. for Monterey’s Next Generation Festival.

The festival is the sister event to the renowned Monterey Jazz Festival. For the first time in the history of the event, two Canadian teenagers from Wellington High school in Nanaimo dazzled audiences all the way to win first place in the Next Generation Festival.

The drum and alto saxophone pairing of Kenton Dick and Ethan Olynyk brought home first place in the High School combo division - and to top that off, they also came home with a pair of outstanding soloist awards. 

The first-place finish for the duo is no coincidence – if you consider the musical history of Wellington High. Kenton and Ethan are not the only virtuosos who attend Wellington – the school is filled with musical talent, all thanks to the Wellington Jazz Academy and Wellington Band.

Jazz classes take place throughout the week during regular school hours in the band room, and students from Wellington have been travelling to play at international festivals for many years.

Kenton and Ethan’s victory will take them back to the Monterey Jazz festival in September 2016 to perform again – this time with some of the greatest names in jazz. Who knows? Maybe one day they will share the stage with Nanaimo’s Dianna Krall!  

Read more B.C. student success stories: https://news.gov.bc.ca/stories/celebrating-student-success