On Feb. 15, Mark Johnson, a local music educator and beloved community figure, tragically died in a car accident on Highway 82. In response to this, Jazz Aspen Snowmass (JAS), in collaboration with the Aspen Music Festival and School, created the Mark Johnson Memorial Fund, a “community fundraising campaign in support of the Carbondale music program,” which set out to hire a new band director for the Roaring Fork School District and to honor Johnson’s legacy.
This stands as another example of what JAS is willing to do for the community, and how much this valley cares for music education.
To help to contextualize the Roaring Fork School District’s struggles — at the beginning of the 2025 school year, Carbondale’s middle and high schools lost their primary music educator: Christina Wenning. She was an important fixture in the schools, accomplishing many tasks in her time, including but not limited to organizing the Roaring Fork High School pep band, fulfilling a massive role in the theater opportunities schools had access to and encouraging all her students to push themselves to new heights.
However, due to budgetary constraints, the schools had to let her go. In the wake of her absence, the community was unsure how music education would look in Carbondale schools moving forward. Many parents and students were understandably worried that the high school and middle school would be without a band director that year, if not forever. This is when JAS stepped in, appointing Chris Banks to teach at both schools and assist in directing the band.
Banks, alongside a rotating cast of fellow JAS employees, made it so not only the bands remained in the schools, but truly thrived. Under Banks’ leadership, the bands participated in contests, played at many sporting events and even grew their presence in the community. While Banks did an excellent job with the schools, this could never be a permanent appointment, as he had far too many other commitments.
This too had a solution: the Mark Johnson Memorial Fund. In a true celebration of all that Johnson stood for, the fund was able to raise enough money from charitable donations to successfully hire a new band director for both the middle and the high school, a young music educator by the name of Jennifer Sutton.
Sutton received her master of music degree in instrumental conducting from Florida Atlantic University. She also has received a bachelor’s degree in vocal performance from the University of Hawaii at Manoa. She is excited to begin work in the Roaring Fork School District and will be teaching at the Carbondale middle and the high schools. She expressed an eagerness to start a vocal program at both schools, as neither have had a choir for some time now.
Sutton promises to continue the legacy of the Roaring Fork School District band directors, building ever toward something greater. This coincides with the legacy of Johnson himself, as he was eternally dedicated to pushing students to be better musicians as well as better people.
As prolific jazz player Charles Mingus once said, “My music is evidence of my soul’s will to live,” and here’s hoping that the music of the Roaring Fork school district, supported by the Mark Johnson Memorial Fund, will keep Mr. Johnson’s soul alive for many years to come.