Photo courtesy of GCHS

After not attending a jazz choir contest for the past two years, Greene County’s own Ram Jive went to Spirit Lake this past Friday and took home the top spot.

Vocal Director David Heupel says the ensemble was first place in Class 2A at the Shake the Lakes contest at Spirit Lake High School. He points out that there were seven total schools competing in Class 2A and he thought they were fortunate to come out on top, which made the long road trip that much better. 

Heupel notes that the group will now wait to find out if they are one of eight high school jazz choirs selected to perform in Class 2A at the Iowa Vocal Jazz Championships. He tells Raccoon Valley Radio after finishing third in Class 3A last year, jumping down a class doesn’t mean the competition is any easier.

“I think they’re both really tough. They get the most submissions for 3A and 2A. I looked at the list of 2A schools that we’d be competing against at Spirit Lake, and I look at the schools that are there at Spirit Lake, and I thought, ‘Well that’s a championship quality (ensemble).’ I think 2A is loaded up too and I think both of them are tough classes. A lot of good schools out there to compete against.   

Heupel adds that they recorded their performance of two songs that was submitted on February 14th. He will be notified if they make it to IVJC in early March.