2019 Duke Madison Memorial Scholarship Recipient – Nate Stombaugh

Nate, son of Tim and Susie Stombaugh, is a senior at West Jessamine High School. Nate plays trumpet in the Central Kentucky Youth Jazz Arts Orchestra (CKYO JAO), as well as multiple ensembles at West Jessamine including the marching band, symphony band, jazz ensemble, and musical pit orchestra. Nate also plays keyboard and bass guitar. He is an Eagle Scout who enjoys backpacking and a variety of outdoor activities. After graduation, Nate plans to attend the University of Kentucky and pursue a degree in Music Education.

After returning from the Jazz Workshop Nate graciously stated: “Firstly, I cannot thank you enough for the privilege of attending the camp. I really enjoyed myself and learned a ton. Below is the summary of my experience. Again, thank you so much for this opportunity.”

Here is Nate’s summary of his experience: My experience at the Jamey Aebersold Jazz camp was truly an incredible one. It was so awesome to just live, breathe, and experience Jazz 24 hours a day with people who are equally as excited to do so as I. At my high school, I was really the only one who knew much about jazz, and certainly the only one who was passionate about it. There were plenty of people near me at other schools that loved jazz, but they were all so much better than me that it was discouraging and made it hard to improve. The most beneficial part of the camp, really, was getting to play in a combo of people who were all around the same level. Not feeling overshadowed gave me room to gain confidence in the notes I was playing and be able to figure out why some were not sounding as good as others. The other thing I loved about the camp was that everyone there wanted to get better, and because of that, there wasn’t really any feeling of competition. At the lunch table, I would be talking to five or six people with ages maybe ranging from 13 to 65, and skill levels ranging from professional musicians all the way down to people who picked the horn up last year. I’m going to college in the fall for Music Education and I have to prepare myself to be able to compete with the other students for chair placement, scholarships, and in the long run, jobs. These people at the lunch table, most of them didn’t care about any of that, at least at that moment. Everyone at the camp was there because they loved Jazz and wanted to get better at it. I am truly grateful for the opportunity to attend the camp this summer. The knowledge and skills I gained are only surpassed in importance by the people I met and got to play with.