Being one of the five high school trumpet players in America to be selected for the Jazz Band of America for 2019 was his goal.

It’s now a reality for senior Sid Sadhu.

“It means so much to me,” Sadhu said. “When I got the news, I was just screaming up and down. It’s just a dream come true to me. I worked my tail off. I practiced almost every day trying to make myself be the best in the world and I kind of got some recognition here and I’m really proud of myself and all of the help I’ve gotten along the way through this journey.”

It wasn’t always a smooth road however, as Sadhu had to work his way to become one of the best trumpet players in America.

“Sid came in as a freshman and was not in the top group which is just really funny to look at now because I think so many students come into the program thinking that ‘oh I didn’t make the top group, that doesn’t mean that I’m any good,’ but Sid has really just latched on to music and he took time in the second jazz group, learned, and put in a lot of time and effort into getting good at what he does,” associate band director Zack Anderson said. “He’s taking multiple lessons, he’s listening to music all the time, and puts forth the effort in practicing everything that he does to get him to the level so for Sid, it’s just so cool to be able to see him grow over the four years and I’m incredibly proud of him and proud of all of his accomplishments and all the time he has put in to achieve this level.”

Past conductors and guest artists of Jazz Band of America include Wynton Marsalis, Patti Austin, Shelly Berg, and Phil Woods.

“For Sid, he is wanting to be a music major and it’s incredibly important for him to understand that this stepping stone for him is a really great trajectory for him as he gets into the college scene and apply for colleges and auditioning for these colleges so for him it’s really great on a resume,” Anderson said. “It’s just going to be a fantastic experience for him as he gets into college.”

Jazz Band of America members are eligible to be nominated for The Revelli Scholarship, a $1,000 scholarship awarded to a Music for All National Festival participating senior intending to study music performance or music education and pursue a career as a music educator.

“For sure it’s going to affect my plans,” Sadhu said. “There’s a lot of scholarship offers now that are on the table for me which is going to help me a lot with paying for college. I think it just opens up my whole horizon to new colleges and hopefully new experiences.”

Sadhu not only received recognition, but he received the title of top five best high school jazz musicians in the nation.

“First and foremost, it’s an incredible honor for him,” Anderson said. “He put in a lot of time and effort into recording for this competition and to achieve this level is quite the accomplishment being in high school. He’s now ranked one of five in the nation in being apart of this program so it’s an incredible achievement for him that not many high schoolers can say they’ve achieved.”

Being named as one of the nation’s top trumpet players fuels Sadhu’s quest to be the best.

“I hope to gain a lot of exposure to get myself out there,” Sadhu said. “It gives me more motivation to do bigger things and try to accomplish more so that’s what I got out of this competition.”