Zachary Niess
Yorktown High School
Zach Niess’ parents, both members of the United States Army band, began lugging him to concerts as a baby. He took up the trombone in fourth grade but his first loves were ice hockey and skateboarding. Instrumental music stayed in the background until the summer between his freshman and sophomore years at Yorktown.
Niess was at a skateboarding camp, felled by allergies and cooped up in a hot cabin, when—bored and lonely—he Googled “Frank Sinatra.” He clicked on the entertainer’s rendition of “Fly Me to the Moon” and was instantly hooked. Soon, his playlists included tracks by “Ol’ Blue Eyes,” Louis Armstrong and Miles Davis. He began transcribing the music of various jazz trombonists, listening to the chord progressions and trying to improvise. He threw himself into reading biographies of jazz legends.
“He’s the most completely successful jazz musician I’ve ever taught,” says Brian Bersh, director of the music department at Yorktown. “He’s got an informed approach to practice that’s rare to find among students his age.”
Niess’ obsession has led to one honor after another. He spent two years in the All-Virginia Jazz Band, was a 2018 National YoungArts Foundation merit winner and received an invitation to be part of the National Jazz Workshop All-Star Jazz Orchestra, where he shared the stage with Wynton Marsalis and Doc Severinsen. By the end of his high-school career he had performed at D.C.’s Blues Alley, the Kennedy Center and in jazz festivals up and down the East Coast. He played at the 2018 Grammys after-parties after a week of rehearsing and jazz clinics in New York.
This summer brings a two-week performing tour in Japan, followed by an appearance on the main stage of the Monterey Jazz Festival. In the fall he’s off to the University of Miami’s Frost School of Music on a full scholarship. “I definitely want to play the rest of my life,” he says. “Regardless of whether I’m getting paid, I love doing it.”