Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival

The Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival is an annual high school jazz festival and competition that takes place every May at Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City. The festival is aimed at encouraging young musicians to play music by Duke Ellington and other jazz musicians.

Process

Every year Jazz at Lincoln Center transcribes arrangements of Ellington's music and sends them to participating high school band directors in the U.S. and Canada. During the year, band directors are sent a newsletter and given access to online educational materials to help with the arrangements. Students can email Jazz at Lincoln Center for help and send recordings of their band's finished performances to the Center for evaluation. These recordings can also count as applications to the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival in New York City. Fifteen top bands are invited to the festival, which occurs every May at Frederick Rose Hall in Jazz at Lincoln Center. The festivals ends with an awards ceremony for the top three bands, then a concert by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra led by Wynton Marsalis. [1]

In 2013 a new selection process was introduced, under which the top three bands from five national regions (including community bands) compete in New York City. However, for the 25th anniversary of the competition in 2020, it was announced on “Acceptd”, the official application site, that the region system has been eliminated, and a total of eighteen bands will be selected. The disbanding of the regional system is stated as a one-year-only event, while the increase in the numbers of bands selected remains ambiguous with regards to its permanence.

The 25th annual edition of the competition and festival was scheduled to feature classic Ellington charts re-released once again. However, due to concerns regarding the COVID-19 virus, Jazz At Lincoln Center announced that the “in person” aspects of the event were cancelled, with Wynton Marsalis presenting a Q&A session on the day of the festival, jam sessions, clinics, sectionals, concerts, and even the traditional cheer tunnel all being held virtually. No winners were announced, although individual honors were given.

Also present for the first time in 2020 were five international youth jazz orchestras, from Japan, Scotland, Australia, Spain, and Cuba.

Background

When the program began in 1995, it was offered only to school bands in New York City. During the next few years, the program grew to include schools in all U.S. states and Canada. Over 4000 schools have received materials.[1]

Beginning in early 2006, JALC announced the debut of the festival's first regional. The regional festivals are non-competitive and offer high school jazz bands of different levels the opportunity to play Ellington's music while also receiving professional feedback.[2]

Starting in 2008, music by big band composers other than Ellington was used for the first time. These include Count Basie, Benny Carter, Dizzy Gillespie, and Mary Lou Williams.[1][3]

For the 2013 and 2015 competitions, Essentially Ellington returned to its original format of six Ellington charts. After the finalists are announced, clinicians are sent to each of the finalist schools to provide a jazz workshop and prepare the bands for competition.[4] The clinicians are usually members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.

Finalists

Several high school bands from the Seattle area have participated including repeat finalists: Roosevelt; Garfield; Shorewood; Mount Si; Edmonds-Woodway; Mountlake Terrace; Newport and Ballard high schools.[5][6] In 2008, five of the fifteen bands to compete were from the greater Seattle area. Acknowledging the region's dominance at the competition, Marsalis, tongue only half in cheek, challenged the remaining schools/regions, "to do something about Seattle and Washington."[7]

Alabama

Arizona
  • Tucson Jazz Institute - Tucson, Arizona, 2010*, 2012*, 2013 (1st), 2014 (1st), 2015 (2nd), 2016 (3rd), 2017 (1st), 2018 (3rd)

California

Colorado

Connecticut

Florida

Georgia
  • The Lovett School – Atlanta, Georgia, 2000, 2001 (3rd), 2004 (H.M.), 2010

Illinois

Indiana

Iowa

Kansas

Maryland

Massachusetts
  • Foxborough High School – Foxborough, Massachusetts, 1997 (1st), 1998 (2nd), 1999 (H.M.), 2000 (H.M.), 2001 (H.M.), 2002, 2003, 2004 (2nd), 2005, 2007 (3rd), 2009, 2010 (3rd), 2011, 2013, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019 (3rd)
  • King Philip Regional High School – Wrentham, Massachusetts, 2002, 2007 (H.M.), 2010
  • Lexington High School – Lexington, Massachusetts, 1998 (H.M.), 1999, 2003, 2006, 2013, 2014, 2015 (3rd), 2016, 2017
  • Medfield High School – Medfield, Massachusetts, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2014
  • Newton South High School – Newton, Massachusetts, 2018
  • Wellesley High School – Wellesley, Massachusetts, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011

Michigan

Missouri
  • Grandview High School – Grandview, Missouri, 2007

Nebraska

New Jersey
  • Jazz House Kids – Montclair, New Jersey 2013 (2nd), 2014 (2nd), 2016
  • Parsippany High School – Parsippany, New Jersey, 1996
  • Newark Academy – Livingston, New Jersey 2012, 2015, 2017 (H.M.), 2018 (2nd), 2019

New York

North Carolina
  • Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble – Raleigh, North Carolina, 2016 (2nd), 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Ohio

Oregon

Pennsylvania

Rhode Island

Tennessee
  • Hume-Fogg High School – Nashville, Tennessee, 1998, 2010
  • Memphis Central High School - Memphis, Tennessee, 2020

Texas

Utah

Virginia

Washington
  • Ballard High School – Seattle, Washington 2012, 2018
  • Battle Ground High School – Battle Ground, Washington, 2006 (2nd)
  • Edmonds Woodway High School – Edmonds, Washington, 2003, 2007, 2010, 2013, 2017
  • Garfield High School – Seattle, Washington, 1999 (H.M.), 2000 (H.M.), 2002 (2nd), 2003 (1st), 2004 (1st), 2005, 2006 (3rd), 2007, 2008 (2nd), 2009 (1st), 2010 (1st), 2013, 2014 (H.M.), 2015, 2016, 2019, 2020
  • Kentlake High School – Kent, Washington, 2001
  • Kentridge High School – Kent, Washington, 1999
  • Mead High School – Spokane, Washington, 2004, 2007
  • Mount Si High School – Snoqualmie, Washington 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020
  • Mountlake Terrace High School – Mountlake Terrace, Washington, 2000, 2002 (H.M.), 2005 (3rd), 2008, 2011 (3rd), 2012, 2017, 2018, 2020
  • Newport High School – Bellevue, Washington, 2001, 2006, 2009
  • Roosevelt High School – Seattle, Washington, 1999, 2000 (3rd), 2001 (2nd), 2002 (1st), 2004, 2005 (2nd), 2006, 2007 (1st), 2008 (1st), 2009 (2nd), 2010 (H.M.), 2011 (2nd), 2012 (2nd), 2013 (3rd), 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 (H.M.), 2019 (1st), 2020
  • Seattle Jazzed Ellington Ensemble Seattle, Washington, 2020
  • Shorewood High School – Shoreline, Washington, 2000, 2001, 2005 (H.M.), 2008 (H.M.)
  • South Whidbey High School – Langley, Washington, 2008

West Virginia

Wisconsin

Canada
  • Community Band Winner

Composition Contest

In 2013, the Gerhard W. Vosshall Student Composition/Arranging Contest was added to the festival following a donation from the Vosshall family made in Gerhard's honor.[8] The contest was renamed the "Dr. J. Douglas White Student Composition and Arranging Contest" in 2016[9]. Each year, a winning composition is chosen from submissions sent from the US and Canada and is performed by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. The winning composer receives a cash prize, a trip to the competition in order to conduct their piece and a composition lesson. The lesson was originally with Ellington historian David Berger, but shifted to JLCO saxophonist Ted Nash in 2015.

YearComposerSchoolCity
2013Devon Gillingham[8]Transcona Collegiate InstituteWinnipeg, Manitoba
2014Jeric Rocamora[10]Rio Americano High SchoolSacramento, California
2015Matt Wong[11]San Francisco Independence High SchoolSan Francisco, California
2016Joseph Block[9]Germantown Friends SchoolPhiladelphia, Pennsylvania
2017Ethan Moffitt[12]Verdugo AcademyGlendale, California
2018Summer Camargo[13]Dillard Center for the ArtsFort Lauderdale, Florida
2019Miles Lennox[14]Dillard Center for the ArtsFort Lauderdale, Florida
2020Leo Steinriede[15]Lower Merion High SchoolArdmore, Pennsylvania

See also

References
  1. "About". Jazz Academy. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  2. "Essentially Ellington Regional Festivals". JALC.org. Archived from the original on 2007-10-07. Retrieved 2007-04-24.
  3. "Winners of Essentially Ellington 2008 played with Wynton and JLCO". WyntonMarsalis.org. Retrieved 2009-05-11.
  4. "EE Jazz Festival Finalist Resources". JALC.org. Archived from the original on 2007-10-07. Retrieved 2007-04-23.
  5. "Jazz in Seattle-area schools: How it grew" (PDF). seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2009-03-03.
  6. "Seattle area again well represented in Essentially Ellington jazz contest". seattletimes.com. Retrieved 2019-03-22.
  7. de Barros, Paul (2008-05-17). "Seattle's Roosevelt, Garfield top two at Essentially Ellington festival". seattletimes.nwsource.com. Retrieved 2008-09-06.
  8. "Winners of the 18th Annual Essentially Ellington Competition 2013". Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  9. "Jazz At Lincoln Center Announces Winners of The 21st Anniversary Essentially Ellington 2016". Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  10. "Jazz at Lincoln Center Announces Winners of the 19th Annual Essentially Ellington Competition 2014". Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  11. "Jazz At Lincoln Center Announces Winners of The 20th Anniversary Essentially Ellington 2015". Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  12. "Jazz at Lincoln Center Announces winners of Essentially Ellington Competition 2017". Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  13. "Jazz at Lincoln Center Announces winners of Essentially Ellington Competition 2018". Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  14. "Jazz at Lincoln Center Announces winners of Essentially Ellington Competition 2019". Retrieved 23 February 2020.
  15. "Essentially Ellington". Retrieved 23 February 2020.
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