Pius X/Southern Nebraska Register
The National Catholic Band Association (NCBA) has named the Jazz Ensemble from Pius X High School in Lincoln as the Outstanding Catholic Jazz Band in the United States for 2025.
“This is an incredible honor and a wonderful acknowledgement of all the hard work of our students,” band director Jared Wilhelm said. “They have done a great job this year.”
Jazz bands from Catholic high schools across the country submitted performance videos to the NCBA by April 1. Each ensemble was evaluated by a panel of three adjudicators, who assessed musicality, technique, and overall performance quality and selected the Pius X Jazz Ensemble as this year’s national winner.
“I was absolutely shell-shocked to learn that out of all the Catholic School Jazz Bands in the country, we had been ranked as the best,” senior Claire Kolbet said. “It’s especially impressive because a lot the people in our band aren’t playing their main instrument and some people have never been in a jazz band.”
Wilhelm encourages students to learn new instruments to expand their musical skills and join in more opportunities.
“It feels really cool to be a part of something bigger than yourself and put in the work to produce music that can make a positive impact on people’s lives,” junior Cameron Laue said, “because that will always be something that the world needs more of.”
The band includes 21 instrumentalists and two vocalists.
Pius X offers many different band opportunities for students: jazz, marching band, concert band, strings, and a ‘show band’ that performs with the school’s show choirs.
