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Jazz at Lincoln Center recently announced the top high school jazz bands selected to compete in the 30th annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival, May 7-11, at Jazz at Lincoln Center. Jazz at Lincoln Center is located at Broadway and 60th Street, New York, NY.
Among the 30 schools to be represented by bands is Miami’s New World School of the Arts.
The band is directed by Jim Gasior.
In honor of the milestone anniversary, the organization also announced plans to expand the unique high school arts education program which has impacted thousands of students, band directors, and the worldwide Essentially Ellington community throughout its 30-year history.
For the first time, Jazz at Lincoln Center has doubled the number of bands, from 15 to 30, selected to compete in the finals. A three-day competition in years past, the 2025 Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival will take place over five days, which will include two rounds of competition taking place on two stages, Rose Theater and the Appel Room.
The final concert and awards ceremony will on May 11 at the Metropolitan Opera House, located at 30 Lincoln Center Plaza, New York, NY.
“In the first years of Essentially Ellington, we at Jazz at Lincoln Center were insisting on the integrity of the playing,” said Wynton Marsalis, Jazz at Lincoln Center managing and artistic director. “Since then, so many great musicians have come through the program, and many of them have had a profound impact on the scene. I’ve also been impacted by the students and the interactions I’ve had with them over these 30 years,” he continued.
“The fact that hundreds of thousands — perhaps even millions — of young people around the world have played Duke Ellington’s music, and his music has been distributed so widely through this program, is a tremendous source of joy for me. I truly feel that Jazz at Lincoln Center has contributed something of real value to the world. The music of Duke Ellington is certainly the highest level of what has come out of the United States of America,” Marsalis added.
“I’ve watched this program expand and evolve over the years and am deeply proud of how Essentially Ellington has changed the landscape of jazz education,” said Todd Stoll, Jazz at Lincoln Center vice president of education. “In a culture always looking ahead to the next best thing, we celebrate the music of Duke Ellington and how it speaks across generations and barriers to bring us together in a way that is both profound and relevant.
Congratulations to the directors, parents, and communities that support these students in their efforts to master this music.”
The finalists were selected from 127 schools, a record number, that submitted recordings of select tunes from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s R. Theodore Ammon Archives and Music Library.
In addition to highlighting the top high school jazz bands, the festival will recognize the winner of the 13th Annual Essentially Ellington Dr. J. Douglas White Student Composition and Arranging Contest. The 2025 winner is Ethan Liao from San Francisco University High School in San Francisco, CA. Liao will receive a $1,000 cash prize and the winning composition, titled By Candlelight, will be recorded by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
The prize also includes a trip to the 2025 Competition & Festival for a composition lesson with Grammy Award-winning artist Ted Nash.
The annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival brings musicians from across North America to Jazz at Lincoln Center to spend several days immersed in workshops, jam sessions, rehearsals and performances. This year, for the first time ever, three international guest bands will join to compete on stage in Rose Theater.
The top-placing bands will be chosen by several judging panels comprising distinguished jazz musicians and historians, including Joseph Jefferson, Ingrid Jensen, Sherrie Maricle, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Ulysses Owens, Catherine Russell, Reggie Thomas, Camille Thurman, Liesel Whitaker, and others to be announced.
One of the most innovative education events in the world, the Essentially Ellington program and resources for students and band directors are free of charge and aim to elevate musicianship, broaden perspectives, and inspire performance through the music of jazz icon Duke Ellington.
Essentially Ellington Festival events, including the final concert featuring the top-placing bands and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, will stream live on jazzlive.com. Tickets will be available for purchase in the coming months.
For more information, visit jazz.org/ee.
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