During the February break, a Rio group was in New York City to participate in the Charles Mingus Festival, put on annually at The New School by the Let My Children Hear Music Foundation to promote and honor the music of one of America’s greatest Jazz musicians and composers. Many of the greatest young musicians from across the country gathered to perform for each other and a panel of judges including contemporaries of Mingus, members of the current Mingus Big Band, and Eric Mingus- Charles’s son.
When it came time for the awards, Rio cleaned up. Here are the honors garnered by our students:
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Our group was the winner of the Combo category. Congratulations to James Sidebotham, Aaron Holst, Salome Ospina, Joel Cooper, Ezra Erickson, Henry Dall-Parker and Sofia Bo Ix-Siu!!!
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Rio bassist Ezra Erickson was chosen for the “Mingus Spirit” Award, given to the most inspirational musicians at the festival.
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Pianist Salome Ospina and vocalist Sofia Bo Ix-Siu were both awarded 4-year, $30,000 per year scholarships to The New School’s vaunted Mannes School of Music. These scholarships were awarded to 3 musicians of the over 200 who performed at the festival, and 2 were from Rio!
Here’s a link to the press release from the Mingus Fest: https://static1.squarespace.
Here’s a link to the video of the performance. Rio begins at about 1 hour, 27 minutes- https://www.youtube.com/watch?
Check the Performance Calendar tab above to find out when you can see one of the amazing bands perform again! Or click the link to see some past performances https://www.youtube.com/c/
A great time was had by all at the 2025 Dinner Dance. Truly a showcase of the excellence Rio Music is known for! Please read this heartfelt thank you from the Dinner Dance team.
Dear amazing guests of Arden & Rio Dinner Dance,
Thank you for joining us at the Elks Lodge on March 1st.
It was an incredibly successful evening for the student musicians and the music programs! The evening provided an amazing opportunity for the student musicians to perform on stage in a way most have not had before! They played and danced their hearts out! It will be a night they most likely won’t forget anytime soon!
Your generous contributions to the Dinner Dance and Silent Auction provided much needed funding to purchase and repair quality instruments and sheet music, offer scholarships to students who cannot afford travel costs, pay festival fees, and other critical operating expenses! Both music programs are so grateful for the support!
We hope that you had a wonderful time and look forward to seeing you at one of the many upcoming music performances. Be on the lookout for the date for next year’s Dinner Dance! We’d love to see you all there again!