Despite the need to go virtual, Jazz at Lincoln Center‘s 25th annual Essentially Ellington high school band competition and festival will continue with most of its elements maintained—free and accessible to the public. The live-stream begins today, June 8 through June 12. For a full schedule of events, including a finalist student Q & A with Wynton Marsalis, the much-anticipated Cheer Tunnel, band performances and interviews, an awards ceremony and more, please visit jazz.org/ee25.
Created during the 1995-96 school year, the program supports the development of jazz music programs and jazz understanding through distribution of the music of Duke Ellington and other seminal big band composers and arrangers.
The following bands were selected as finalists for the 25th annual Essentially Ellington Festival:
- Agoura High School (Agoura Hills, CA), directed by Chad Bloom
- Beloit Memorial High School (Beloit, WI), directed by Chris Behrens
- Byron Center High School (Byron Center, MI), directed by Marc Townley
- Carroll Senior High School (Southlake, TX), directed by David Lown
- Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music (Bronx, NY), directed by Penelope Smetters-Jacono
- Denver School of the Arts (Denver, CO), directed by Dave Hammond
- Dillard Center for the Arts (Fort Lauderdale, FL), directed by Christopher Dorsey
- Garfield High School (Seattle, WA), directed by Jared Sessink
- Memphis Central High School (Memphis, TN), directed by Dr. Ollie Liddell
- Mountlake Terrace High School (Mountlake Terrace, WA), directed by Darin Faul
- Mount Si High School (Snoqualmie, WA), directed by William Leather
- New World School of the Arts (Miami, FL), directed by Jim Gasior
- Plano West Senior High School (Plano, TX), directed by Preston Pierce
- Rio Americano High School (Sacramento, CA), directed by Josh Murray
- Roosevelt High School (Seattle, WA), directed by Scott Brown
- Seattle JazzED Ellington Ensemble (Seattle, WA), directed by Kelly Clingan
- Tarpon Springs High School (Tarpon Springs, FL), directed by Christopher M. De León
- Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble (Raleigh, NC), directed by Dr. Gregg Gelb
And joining from around the world, the following bands will also participate as representatives of the thousands of young people across the globe who participate in this program:
- La Jazz Band del Amadeo Roldán de la Habana (Havana, Cuba)
- Blackburn High School Senior Jazz Orchestra (Melbourne, Australia)
- Sant Andreu Jazz Band (Barcelona, Spain)
- Tomisato High School Jazz Orchestra of Tomisato High School (Chiba, Japan)
- Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra (Edinburgh, Scotland)
Over 6,700 jazz bands are members of the Essentially Ellington program. Last fall, each of these bands was sent eight transcriptions of Duke’s music specially published for this program. Every member school had the option of submitting a recording of their band for consideration for the Festival and 18 finalist bands were selected through a blind screening process. For the first time, five international youth jazz bands will be participating.
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