Mendham High Senior Earns Statewide Jazz Scholarship

MENDHAM, N.J. – Andrew Wagner is capping off his senior year at Mendham High School on a high note.

The Jazz musician has been awarded the 2016 James Moody Jazz Scholarship for New Jersey, which was announced at Jazz House Kids last month.

Wagner has been a student of Jazz House Kids for more than two years, “adding his unique style of playing and pizzazz to the award-winning Jazz House Big Band & Organ Messengers,” the organization said.

Wagner played lead trumpet in the band this year. He recently returned to Peru, where he joined the Jazz House Kids in a cultural exchange program at the invitation of the U.S. Embassy in Peru.

Wagner is headed to New Jersey City University in the fall of 2016.

“The James Moody Jazz Scholarship for New Jersey recognize an outstanding high school senior who embodies the qualities Moody expressed through his life and music,” the organization said. “The scholarship, awarded annually, seeks to foster musicianship, creativity, leadership and community involvement. Administered by the Community Foundation of New Jersey, the James Moody Jazz Scholarship includes a monetary award to be used toward college tuition, as well as a high-quality instrument donated by RS Berkeley Musical Instruments.”

Pictured: From left, Ron Fragner, RS Berkeley Musical Instruments; Linda Moody; 5-time GRAMMY Award-winning bassist, Christian McBride; award-recipient, trumpeter Andrew Wagner; and Melissa Walker, president & founder of Jazz House Kids. Photo Courtesy Jazz House Kids