When the vocal ensembles from Sandpoint High School and Sandpoint Middle School participated in the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival this past February, they came home with some significant honors.

The SHS Concert Choir took “runner up” honors in their division by performing “I Could Write A Book,” “Cheek To Cheek,” and “Cry Me A River”, Jon Brownell, the schools' choral director said. In addition, the SHS Chamber Choir won the AAA Division performing “Undecided,” “Just In Time,” and “A New Kind Of Love.”

Soloists in the Concert Choir consisted of such top vocalists as Sarah Kugle, Emma Cheney and Ava Parke. Soloists for the Chamber Choir are John Keegan, Sarah Kugle, Elly Pincher, Bennett Moran, Asiah Keenan and saxophonist Keane Haesle.

The Sandpoint Middle School Select Choir won the middle school division performing “Lonesome Road,” “Mood Indigo,” “Girl from Ipanema,” and “Blue Suede Shoes”.

Soloists for the middle school ensemble are Dakota Ferguson, Izzy Bostock, Leah Clark, Lacey O’Connell, Shayne McAuliffe, Maya Lowrey, Milo Dixon and Eli Tucker.

Asiah Keenan, senior alto, won the solo division singing “Between the Devil and the Deep Blue Sea,” and “Like The Movies”. Winning the solo division includes a $1,500 scholarship attached to it.

While he has had students do well at the jazz festival, Brownell said it is the first time that a student from the area has won the scholarship.

Since the 1960s at the University of Idaho, the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival has brought jazz masters together with elementary, junior high, high school and college students to share and celebrate a truly American art form, according to information on the school's website. Since then, it has grown from a one-day event to a three-day celebration.

The first festival took place in 1967, attracting a dozen student groups and one guest artist, festival official said. By 1982, the festival gained national attention when thousands of students and spectators came to hear Ella Fitzgerald.

However, festival officials said it was in 1984 — when Lionel Hampton joined in the fun — that its most important relationship began. Inspired by the enthusiasm of the students, Hampton pledged his support to the festival and, the following year, it was renamed in his honor.

Now having hosted thousands upon thousands of students, spectators, and artists — including Doc Severinsen, Bobby McFerrin, Sarah Vaughan, Dizzy Gillespie, The Manhattan Transfer, and countless musicians from around the world – the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival is three outstanding days of student performances, workshops, clinics and remarkable world-class evening concerts, officials said.

In 2007, the Lionel Hampton Jazz Festival was awarded a National Medal of Arts — the nation's most prestigious arts award, festival officials said on the website. This recognition affirmed the vision shared by Lionel Hampton and the University of Idaho about the power of jazz and education to bridge cultures, inspire creativity and develop the musical leadership abilities of the next generation of jazz leaders.