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WYLIE EAST JAZZ FESTIVAL 2026

WELCOME!

Ensemble Entry
All Ensembles: $400

Entry Deadline: February 15, 2026
 

Festival Info:
Saturday, April 18, 2026
Wylie East HS

 

SIGN-UP FORM

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Entry QR Code! Please fill out ASAP to reserve your spot! 
 

Junior High/"Non-Varsity" groups will have a 45-minute time slot to set up, perform/work with a clinician, and tear down. Performances will be recorded in-house.

High School "Varsity" will have a 45-minute time slot to set up, perform on stage and work with the judges, and tear down. Performances will be professionally recorded.

STOCKTON HELBING
& THE HELBING JAZZ INITIATIVE

Wylie East High School is thrilled to invite the incredible Stockton Helbing and the Helbing Jazz Initiative to the return of the WEHS Jazz Festival! Mr. Helbing and the Initiative will be performing the end-of-contest Awards Concert at 7:30PM and will be giving a presentation after lunch!

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Stockton Helbing is always moving. If he is not playing the drums, he is busy being a composer, arranger, producer, bandleader, educator, music director, author, and entrepreneur. Stockton maintains a busy schedule of performing, recording, lecturing, and teaching around North America with his trio, quartet, quintet, and sextet. He is a frequent guest artist at colleges and high schools where he clinics, rehearses, and performs with their small groups, big bands, and percussion ensembles. Since 2011, Stockton has been heard across the United States playing drums for American music icon and trumpet player extraordinaire Doc Severinsen. 

Stockton has released eight albums to date: Lodestar (2005), For Nothing is Secret (2007), Battlestations & Escape Plans (2010), Crazy Aquarius (2012), Handprints (2014), Patina (2015), Swimming in Place (2017), and Light Sleeper (2020), his most recent. Each album not only showcases Stockton’s drumming abilities, but his composing, arranging, and producing skills as well. Stockton has also authored two books, Big Band Drum Set Sight Reading Etudes Volume 1 and Studies in Syncopation, both of which are included in the percussion curriculum at the University of North Texas. 

Since 2016, Stockton has directed a Jazz outreach program called the Helbing Jazz Initiative (HJI). Through HJI presentations, Stockton and his sextet have provided Jazz masterclasses for thousands of elementary, middle school, and high school students throughout the Dallas/Ft. Worth Area. HJI masterclasses focus on celebrating the Jazz masters of the past through performance and discussion of their musical and social contributions to Jazz history. In April of 2019, Stockton was recognized by the Dallas Jazz Appreciation Month (DJAM) Jazz Legend award for Jazz Innovator of the year for his work with HJI in the Dallas/Ft. Worth area. 

Stockton has performed and recorded with a wide range of artists including Maynard Ferguson, Doc Severinsen, Arturo Sandoval, the Maniacal 4, Erykah Badu, David Braid, Steve Wiest, Jennifer Holiday, Blue Lou Marini, The Dallas Symphony Orchestra, Denis DiBlasio, The Cincinnati Pops, Chip McNeill, Darden Purcell, Clay Jenkins, Phil Woods, Wayne Bergeron, Randy Brecker, The Imperial Brass, Mary Wilson, Paul Tynan, Andy Timmons, Tom “Bones” Malone, Ernie Watts and many more.

Stockton currently teaches drum set at the University of North Texas as an adjunct professor of music. Stockton has appeared as guest artist at schools including the University of North Texas, San Jose State University, Southern Wesleyan University, the University of Illinois, Simpson College, George Mason University, the University of South Carolina, St. Francis Xavier University, Oklahoma State University, and Troy University.

Stockton lives in Dallas, TX, with his wife Denise, John their son, Liliana their daughter, Jack the dog, and Aquarius the turtle.

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© 2025 by Wylie East HS Band

Wylie East High School

3000 Wylie East Drive

Wylie, TX 75098

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