For the Ballard High Jazz Band students, winning first place at the Mount Hood Jazz Festival the weekend of May 4-5 was no sure thing.

"It was actually a surprise for me," said junior Emerson Jordan, who plays tenor sax. "It was hard to judge sort of how good the other bands were. It felt good when they said our name."

Of course, the band didn't go to the festival necessarily to win. Students said they simply wanted to play well and put on a good performance.

"One of the things we focused on was not trying to win ... to win, that was just a nice surprise," said junior Julian Amrine.

Along with the first place trophy, the talented band also had three students get recognized as outstanding soloists: Amrine on Trumpet, Will Radford on Alto Sax and Luca Cartner on Drums.

"We know we played well, but we didn't hear all the bands," said director of bands Michael James. "I was hoping to place, but to get first place was fantastic. I think the kids worked so hard, so I was just very proud of their performance."

For most of the students, music has become not just a hobby or extracurricular activity, but a part of who they are. Students interviewed said they are likely going to keep playing music, whether as a career or otherwise.

When asked how long he has played music, Amrine said, "My whole life, I guess. My dad played jazz when I was little. I picked up piano when I was three and have played jazz since 4th Grade; I picked up trumpet in 5th grade."

While Cartner said he was surprised he got called as an outstanding soloist, his passion, along with the other students', probably should have acted as a warning signal that they were going to do good.

"Jazz is one of the things I live to play," Cartner said.

Jordan had a similar sentiment.

"It's a sort of way to express myself, it's very joyful to play music ... I'm never going to stop."

Jazz Band I and II will be playing at the Spring Band and Orchestra Concert on June 5, 7 p.m., in the Early Kelly Performing Arts Center at Ballard High School. For more info, visit http://www.ballardperformingarts.org

Zachariah Bryan can be reached at zachb@robinsonnews.com

Follow Ballard News-Tribune on Facebook at www.facebook.com/ballardnewstrib

And Twitter at http://twitter.com/ballardnewstrib