Goshen trombonist accepted into national honor band

Dani Messick, Goshen News, Ind.
Updated ·3 min read

Jan. 5—GOSHEN — A Goshen High School trombonist has been chosen to participate in a national ensemble in March.

Goshen High School senior Nate Weber was chosen to participate in the Jazz Band of America, as part of the Music For All National Festival presented by Yahama March 21-23 at Butler University at Clowes Memorial Hall in Indianapolis. The honor band festival highlights the best students in music programs on a national level.

"I'm very honored to be selected as a part of this," Weber, 18, Goshen, said. Like big band jazz ensembles, the band consists of less than a few dozen performers, making the accomplishment for Weber all the more impressive.

Weber is the first Goshen High School student to audition and make the cut. He's also participated in the Indiana Music Educators Association Honor Band and All-State Jazz Band, but the Jazz Band of America is his first national festival.

"I can't always recommend kids because I know that would be a financial hardship on them to do but I know his parents," explained Goshen High School Band Director Tom Cox. "He's like the fourth Weber I've had in the program, so I have a little bit of history with them and the kid is freakishly good."

Cox explained that his twin brother, Tim Cox, who has also been active in music education, recently switched gears from directing Decatur Central High School's marching band to working with the Music For All program. Cox said his brother specifically asked him to encourage Weber to audition for the band, having seen him perform on numerous occasions.

"I was instantly taken aback — like 'Whoa, they're considering me for this?'" Weber recalled.

Of the four high school trombone players chosen nationwide for the honor, Weber will be the bass trombonist.

"My brother was a far greater trombone player than I ever was," Weber said. "I really just took after him. The guy was incredible."

Today his brother Sean is a bass player in New Orleans.

Cox said Weber's selection is a huge honor for him as well as for Goshen's band program.

"For a kid to make it from a town of 35,000 is a really big deal," he said. "A lot of these kids have a lot more advantages than a typical kid from Goshen or Elkhart County. Opportunities to study with private lesson teachers who play in the Chicago Symphony, one of the best in the world, and we don't have that here. We're not Atlanta, we're not Dallas."

Instead, Weber's private instructor is Goshen Middle School Band Director Max Johnson. Weber, nonetheless, attributes his musical successes to the band and its leaders.

"Being a part of specifically this program, with the incredible directors we have ... and just the community as a whole, it really got to me," Weber said. "It gave me something to be good for and to kind of cling onto when I had nothing else. Music is a huge part of my life."

Weber has plans to attend to Ball State University and pursue Music Education.

"There aren't many kids that can play like Nate," Cox added. "It's in him. That's all I can say."

The audition isn't the end of the journey for Weber, though. To participate, the Webers will have to raise nearly $1,200 and they've been working hard to meet that goal. To support, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/N-weber-jazz.