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 Jazz at Lincoln Center is an organization based in New York City. Part of Lincoln Center, the organization was founded in 1987 and opened at Time Warner Center (now Deutsche Bank Center) in October 2004. The organization seeks to “represent th ...

in New York City. The festival is aimed at encouraging young musicians to play music by

Duke Ellington Edward Kennedy "Duke" Ellington (April 29, 1899 – May 24, 1974) was an American Jazz piano, jazz pianist, composer, and leader of his eponymous Big band, jazz orchestra from 1924 through the rest of his life. Born and raised in Washington, D ...

and other jazz musicians.

Process

Every year Jazz at Lincoln Center transcribes

arrangements In music, an arrangement is a musical adaptation of an existing Composition (music), composition. Differences from the original composition may include Harmony (music), reharmonization, Musical phrasing, melodic paraphrasing, orchestration, or M ...

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. In 2013 a new selection process was introduced, under which the top three bands from five national regions compete in New York City. Another major change made that year was the opening up of the main competition to allow conglomerate bands (extra-curricular bands composed of students from more than one school, often sponsored by local performing arts organizations) to compete directly with the bands affiliated with schools, instead of one conglomerate band being chosen to appear outside the competition as a special guest in an exhibition performance, as was the case previously. The 25th annual edition of the competition and festival was scheduled to feature classic Ellington charts re-released once again. It was also announced on “Acceptd”, the official application site, that, due to the 25th anniversary the region system has been eliminated, and a total of eighteen bands will be selected, three more than in years past. 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 honors to individual soloists and sections were given. Also present for the first time in 2020 were five international youth jazz orchestras, from Japan, Scotland, Australia, Spain, and Cuba, increasing the total number of participating ensembles in the 2020 festival to twenty-three. The 2021 festival was originally scheduled to be an in-person event featuring music of pivotal arranger and pioneering electric guitarist Eddie Durham alongside the traditional Duke Ellington musical releases. However, the course of the COVID-19 pandemic meant that this arrangement simply wasn't feasible. The festival pushed back the release of new music until the 2021-2022 school year, and encouraged participating schools to submit one song from the entire Essentially Ellington library in either a synchronous or asynchronous fashion. Submission due dates were pushed back to March and the actual festival to early June. The 2021 festival also introduced new rules regarding the submissions of conglomerate bands (extra-curricular bands composed of students from more than one school), a previously largely unregulated field. The festival provided and official definition of conglomerate bands, stating that they need to follow a specific course of study, as well as a scope and sequence, all in addition to weekly rehearsals and scheduled public performances. All-Star, All-State, and All-Region bands are barred from competition, as are bands created for the sole purpose of competing in Essentially Ellington. For the 30th anniversary of the competition and festival, the region system was once again abandoned and a total of thirty bands were selected to participate, double the amount in years prior. Twenty-seven bands were chosen across the United States, and three international bands from Japan, Australia, and Spain were also invited to compete.

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. 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. Starting in 2008, music by big band composers other than Ellington was used for the first time, three

Count Basie William James "Count" Basie (; August 21, 1904 – April 26, 1984) was an American jazz pianist, organist, bandleader, and composer. In 1935, he formed the Count Basie Orchestra, and in 1936 took them to Chicago for a long engagement and the ...

selections. In succeeding years they have also released songs by:

Benny Carter Bennett Lester Carter (August 8, 1907 – July 12, 2003) was an American jazz saxophonist, clarinetist, trumpeter, composer, arranger, and bandleader. With Johnny Hodges, he was a pioneer on the alto saxophone. From the beginning of his career ...

Dizzy Gillespie John Birks "Dizzy" Gillespie ( ; October 21, 1917 – January 6, 1993) was an American jazz trumpeter, bandleader, composer, educator and singer. He was a trumpet virtuoso and improvisation, improviser, building on the virtuosic style of Roy El ...

Mary Lou Williams Mary Lou Williams (born Mary Elfrieda Scruggs; May 8, 1910 – May 28, 1981) was an American jazz pianist, arranger, and composer. She wrote hundreds of compositions and arrangements and recorded more than one hundred records (in 78, 45, and ...

Gerald Wilson Gerald Stanley Wilson (September 4, 1918 – September 8, 2014) was an American jazz trumpeter, big band bandleader, composer, arranger, and educator. Born in Mississippi, he was based in Los Angeles from the early 1940s. He arranged music for D ...

, Fletcher Henderson, and

Benny Golson Benny Golson (January 25, 1929 – September 21, 2024) was an American bebop and hard bop jazz tenor saxophonist, composer, and arranger. He came to prominence with the big bands of Lionel Hampton and Dizzy Gillespie, more as a writer than a p ...

. 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. The clinicians are usually members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Notable alumni of the competition includes Grammy-nominated trombonist Nick Finzer who serves on the jazz faculty at UNT and founded The Outside The Music record label.

Finalists

Several high school bands from the Seattle area have participated including repeat finalists: Bothell; Roosevelt; Garfield; Shorewood; Mount Si; Edmonds-Woodway; Mountlake Terrace; Newport and Ballard high schools. 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." An asterisk (*) indicates a band was chosen as the winner of the community ensemble showcase, but did not directly compete in the festival.

Alabama

* Virgil I. Grissom High School – Huntsville, Alabama, 1999 * Hoover High School – Hoover, Alabama, 2025

Arizona

* Tucson Jazz Institute – Tucson, Arizona, 2010*, 2012*, 2013 (1st), 2014 (1st), 2015 (2nd), 2016 (3rd), 2017 (1st), 2018 (3rd), 2021, 2025

California

* Agoura High School (Jazz I) – Agoura Hills, California, 2004, 2005, 2006 (H.M.), 2007 (2nd), 2009, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2023, 2024 (3rd), 2025 * Agoura High School (Jazz II) – Agoura Hills, California, 2007, 2008, 2011, 2015 * Albany High School – Albany, California, 2010 * Calabasas High School – Calabasas, California, 2003, 2006, 2009 * Esperanza High School – Anaheim, California, 2012 *

Los Angeles County High School for the Arts Los Angeles County High School for the Arts (LACHSA, ) is a visual and performing arts high school located on the campus of California State University, Los Angeles (Cal State LA) in Los Angeles, California, United States. It is a public school, ...

– Los Angeles, California, 2003 (3rd), 2006, 2009 * Orange County School of the Arts - Santa Ana, California 2022 (3rd), 2023, 2024, 2025 * Rio Americano High School – Sacramento, California, 2001, 2002, 2006, 2007, 2010, 2012 (H.M.), 2013, 2014, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2025 * San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts - San Diego, California, 2016, 2019 * SF Jazz All-Star High School Ensemble – San Francisco, California, 2002, 2003 (H.M.) * Stanford Jazz Workshop – Stanford, California, 2025

Colorado

* Denver School of the Arts – Denver, Colorado, 1999, 2004, 2017 (2nd), 2019, 2020

Connecticut

* Connecticut Youth Jazz Workshop –

Middletown, Connecticut Middletown is a city in Middlesex County, Connecticut, United States. Located along the Connecticut River, in the central part of the state, 16 miles (25.749504 km) south of Hartford, Connecticut, Hartford. Middletown is the largest city in the L ...

, 2000, 2002 *

Greenwich High School Greenwich High School is a four-year public high school in Greenwich, Connecticut, United States. The school is part of the Greenwich Public Schools system and serves roughly 2,700 students. It offers over 295 courses and a wide variety of co-cu ...

– Greenwich, Connecticut, 1996, 2003, 2007 * Guilford High School – Guilford, Connecticut, 1997, 1998 (H.M.), 1999, 2003 * Hall High School – West Hartford, Connecticut, 1997 (3rd), 1998 (1st), 1999 (2nd), 2000 (1st), 2001 (H.M.), 2002, 2005, 2008, 2011, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2025

Florida

* Community Arts Program – Coral Gables, Florida 2013, 2014, 2015 * Dillard High School – Fort Lauderdale, Florida, 2010 (2nd), 2011 (1st), 2012 (1st), 2013 (H.M.), 2014 (3rd), 2015 (H.M.), 2017 (3rd), 2018 (1st), 2019 (2nd), 2020, 2021 * Douglas Anderson School of the Arts – Jacksonville, Florida, 2004, 2006 (1st), 2008 * Dreyfoos School of the Arts – West Palm Beach, Florida, 1998, 2021, 2024, 2025 (H.M.) * Howard W. Blake High School – Tampa, Florida, 1999 (H.M.) * New World School of the Arts – Miami, Florida, 2000 (2nd), 2002 (3rd), 2003 (2nd), 2004 (H.M.), 2005 (1st), 2009 (H.M.), 2010, 2011 (H.M.), 2012 (3rd), 2013, 2015, 2016 (1st), 2020, 2022, 2023 (3rd), 2025 * Osceola County High School for the Arts – Kissimmee, Florida, 2014, 2017, 2018, 2022 (1st), 2023 (1st), 2024 (2nd), 2025 (3rd) * Tarpon Springs High School – Tarpon Springs, Florida, 2019, 2020 * University High School - Orange City, Florida, 2016

Georgia

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

Illinois

* Champaign Central High School – Champaign, Illinois, 2005, 2008, 2012, 2017, 2018, 2021 * DeKalb High School– DeKalb, Illinois, 2008, 2012 * Downers Grove South High School – Downers Grove, Illinois, 2011 * East St. Louis Senior High School – East St. Louis, Illinois, 2011 * Lake Zurich High School – Lake Zurich, Illinois, 2006 * Lyons Township High School – La Grange, Illinois, 2015 * Naperville North High School – Naperville, Illinois, 2000 * St. Charles High School – St. Charles, Illinois, 1998, 2000 * St. Charles East High School – St. Charles, Illinois, 2003 * St. Charles North High School – St. Charles, Illinois, 2004, 2011 * Thornton Township High School – Harvey, Illinois, 2002 * Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage – Wheaton, Illinois, 2001 (H.M.), 2008*, 2024, 2025

Indiana

* Southport High School – Indianapolis, Indiana, 1999 * Whiteland Community High School - Whiteland, Indiana, 2014 * Noblesville High School - Noblesville, Indiana, 2021, 2022

Iowa

* North Scott High School – Eldridge, Iowa, 2009 * Sioux City North High School – Sioux City, Iowa, 2006 * Valley High School – West Des Moines, Iowa, 1999, 2011

Kansas

* Shawnee Mission East High School – Prairie Village, Kansas, 2001, 2006 * Olathe Northwest High School – Olathe, Kansas, 2021

Maryland

* Arundel High School – Gambrills, Maryland, 2001

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), 2021, 2022 (2nd), 2023 * King Philip Regional High School – Wrentham, Massachusetts, 2002, 2007 (H.M.), 2010, 2024, 2025 * 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, 2021, 2025 * Wellesley High School – Wellesley, Massachusetts, 2005, 2006, 2009, 2011

Michigan

* Ann Arbor Huron High School – Ann Arbor, Michigan, 2025 * Byron Center High School – Byron Center, Michigan, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 *

Interlochen Center for the Arts Interlochen Center for the Arts ( '; also known as I.C.A. or Inty) is a Nonprofit organization, non-profit corporation which operates Visual arts education, arts education institutions and Music venue, performance venues. Established in 1928 b ...

– Interlochen, Michigan, 1998, 2003

Missouri

* Grandview High School – Grandview, Missouri, 2007

Nebraska

* Lincoln Southeast High School – Lincoln, Nebraska, 1999

New Jersey

* Jazz House Kids – Montclair, New Jersey 2013 (2nd), 2014 (2nd), 2016, 2022, 2025 * Newark Academy – Livingston, New Jersey 2012, 2015, 2017 (H.M.), 2018 (2nd), 2019, 2022, 2024 (1st), 2025 * Parsippany High School – Parsippany, New Jersey, 1996

New York

* 315 All-Stars – Syracuse, New York, 2001 (1st), 2002, 2003 (H.M.) * Adlai E. Stevenson High School – Bronx, New York, 1996 (3rd) * Brentwood High School – Brentwood, New York 1996, 1997 * Canandaigua Academy – Canandaigua, New York, 1996 * Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music - Bronx, NY 2020, 2025 * Eastman Youth Jazz Ensemble –

Rochester, New York Rochester is a city in and the county seat, seat of government of Monroe County, New York, United States. It is the List of municipalities in New York, fourth-most populous city and 10th most-populated municipality in New York, with a populati ...

, 2003, 2005*, 2006* * Ethical Culture Fieldston School – Riverdale, New York, 1996 * Honeoye Falls–Lima High School – Honeoye Falls, New York, 1996 (2nd), 1997 (H.M.), 2004, 2007 * Honeoye Falls-Perinton Jazz Ensemble – Honeoye Falls, NY, 1999 * Kingston High School – Kingston, New York, 2009 * Laurens Central School – Laurens, New York, 1996 *

Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School Fiorello H. LaGuardia High School of Music & Art and Performing Arts, often referred to simply as LaGuardia or "LaG", is a public High school (North America), high school specializing in teaching visual arts and performing arts, near Lincoln ...

– New York, New York, 1996 (1st), 1997 (2nd), 1998, 1999 (1st), 2000 (H.M.), 2002, 2005, 2010 * Miller Place High School – Miller Place, New York, 1996 * Penfield High School – Penfield, New York, 1997, 1998, 1999 * Rochester Area High School Jazz Ensemble – Honeoye Falls, New York, 2000 * Susan Wagner High School – Staten Island, New York, 2023 (2nd), 2024, 2025 * West Genesee High School – Camillus, New York, 1997 * Williamsville East High School – East Amherst, New York, 1999, 2007

North Carolina

* Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble – Raleigh, North Carolina, 2016 (2nd), 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024

Ohio

* Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra –

Columbus, Ohio Columbus (, ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities in Ohio, most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a 2020 United States census, 2020 census population of 905,748, it is the List of United States ...

, 2002 * Lakota East High School – Liberty Township, Ohio 2012 * Westerville South High School – Westerville, Ohio, 2004

Oregon

* American Music Program Pacific Crest Jazz Orchestra - Portland, Oregon, 2007*, 2008*, 2009*, 2011*, 2013, 2015 (1st) * Arts & Communication Magnet Academy – Beaverton, Oregon, 2005

Pennsylvania

* Pennsbury High School – Fairless Hills, Pennsylvania, 1997 (H.M.) * State College Area High School – State College, Pennsylvania, 1998, 1999, 2006, 2009 * Upper Darby High School – Upper Darby, Pennsylvania, 1998

Rhode Island

* Barrington High School – Barrington, Rhode Island, 1998, 2000

Tennessee

* Hume-Fogg High School – Nashville, Tennessee, 1998, 2010 * Memphis Central High School - Memphis, Tennessee, 2020, 2021, 2025 (1st)

Texas

* Carroll Senior High School – Southlake, Texas, 2007, 2010, 2014, 2018, 2020, 2021, 2025 * High School for the Performing and Visual Arts – Houston, Texas, 1999 (3rd) * Plano Senior High School – Plano, Texas, 2005, 2010 * Plano West Senior High School – Plano, Texas 2017, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 * Stephen F. Austin High School – Austin, Texas, 2008 * Temple High School – Temple, Texas, 2004, 2011

Utah

* Crescent Super Band – American Fork, Utah, 2016

Virginia

* Chantilly High School – Chantilly, Virginia, 1997, 1998 *

McLean High School McLean High School is a public high school within the Fairfax County Public Schools in McLean, Virginia, United States. In 2024, ''U.S. News & World Report'' rated McLean the 218th-best U.S. public high school, and fifth-best in Virginia. Hist ...

– McLean, Virginia, 1997

Washington

* Ballard High School – Seattle, Washington 2012, 2018 * Battle Ground High School – Battle Ground, Washington 2006 (2nd) * Bothell High School - Bothell, Washington 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 * 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, 2023, 2024, 2025 * 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, 2022 * Mountlake Terrace High School – Mountlake Terrace, Washington, 2000, 2002 (H.M.), 2005 (3rd), 2008, 2011 (3rd), 2012, 2017, 2018, 2020, 2025 * 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, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025 * 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

* Fairmont Senior High School – Fairmont, West Virginia, 1997

Wisconsin

* Badger Union High School –

Lake Geneva, Wisconsin Lake Geneva is a city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located in Walworth County and situated on Geneva Lake, it was home to 8,277 people as of the 2020 census, up from 7,651 at the 2010 census. It is located southwest of Milwaukee and no ...

, 2009, 2012, 2013 * Beloit Memorial High School – Beloit, Wisconsin, 2009, 2012, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2018 (H.M.), 2019, 2020, 2022, 2023, 2024 * North High School – Eau Claire, Wisconsin 2012 * Memorial High School – Eau Claire, Wisconsin, 1999, 2001, 2002, 2005, 2008, 2009 (3rd), 2010 * Middleton High School – Middleton, Wisconsin, 2019 * Pulaski High School – Pulaski, Wisconsin, 2001 * Sun Prairie Jazz Ensemble I (Sun Prairie West & East High Schools) – Sun Prairie, Wisconsin, 1998 (3rd), 2000, 2001, 2004 (3rd), 2008 (3rd), 2011, 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2023, 2025 * Wauwatosa East High School – Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, 2010

Australia

* Blackburn High School – Melbourne, Victoria, Australia, 2020, 2025

Canada

* River East Collegiate – Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada, 2003, 2004, 2007, 2008, 2011

Cuba

* La Jazz Band del Amadeo Roldán de la Habana – Havana, Cuba, 2020

Japan

* Tomisato High School – Tomisato, Chiba Prefecture, Japan, 2020, 2025

Scotland

* Tommy Smith Youth Jazz Orchestra – Edinburgh, Scotland, 2020

Spain

* Sant Andreu Jazz Band – Barcelona, Spain, 2020, 2025 (2nd)

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. The contest was renamed the "Dr. J. Douglas White Student Composition and Arranging Contest" in 2016. 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.

References

External links

Official site
{{DEFAULTSORT:Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition And Festival Lincoln Center Music competitions in the United States Jazz festivals in New York City Recurring events established in 1995 Annual events in New York City