High School competition at Lincoln Center [Archive]

Pete C

March-17th-2004, 10:55 PM

Best of luck to you. I've attended the semi-finals several times, and it's always loads of fun.

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15 FINALISTS ANNOUNCED IN NINTH ANNUAL
ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ BAND
COMPETITION & FESTIVAL

New York, NY, March 4, 2004 Today, Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) announced the 15 finalist bands for its prestigious Ninth Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival. These bands will compete for over $11,000 in cash awards at the competition finals, produced by JALC, in New York City on May 22, 23 & 24, 2004. This year, a total number of 6,840 newly-transcribed Ellington scores and educational materials were sent to 1,140 high school jazz bands in all 50 states, across Canada and to American schools in Brazil and Switzerland. Of these high school jazz bands, 102 entered the competition by submitting a recording of three Ellington songs. In its nine-year history, this unique music education program has reached over 3,500 high schools across all 50 U.S. states, U.S. territories, Canada, Australia and American schools abroad. To date, over 200,000 students have performed Duke Ellington's music through the Essentially Ellington program.

The 15 finalists for Essentially Ellington 2004 are: Agoura High School, Agoura Hills, CA
Denver School of the Arts, Denver, CO
Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Jacksonville, FL
New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL
The Lovett School, Atlanta, GA
St. Charles North High School, Saint Charles, IL
River East Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Foxboro High School, Foxboro, MA
Honeoye Falls - Lima High School, Honeoye Falls, NY
Westerville South High School, Westerville, OH
Temple High School, Temple, TX
Garfield High School, Seattle, WA
Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA
Mead High School, Spokane, WA
Sun Prairie High School, Sun Prairie, WI

Winner of Conglomerate Band Workshop: Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra, Rochester, NY

"Instruments are being oiled and tuned up, reeds are being shaved, bass lines are being walked, scores are being studied, and countless hours are being spent preparing the most swinging music ever written—it is time for Essentially Ellington ," said JALC Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis.

"Over the last nine years, we've had the pleasure to witness extraordinary growth in the number of high school bands playing Ellington's music for state competitions, concerts, dances, and band fundraising events," said Laura Johnson, Vice President, Education. "That's in large part due to the enthusiastic participation of directors in Essentially Ellington ."

2004 COMPETITION & FESTIVAL WEEKEND
The three-day festival will begin on Saturday, May 22 when the finalist bands arrive for "One-On-One With Wynton Marsalis," workshops, rehearsals, a banquet dinner, and jam sessions with members of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (LCJO). Also included in the weekend activities is a film program on Duke Ellington and a workshop for non-finalist band directors. In the two-part competition on Sunday, May 23 at 4pm and Monday, May 24 at 10:30am in Avery Fisher Hall, a panel of judges - including composer, conductor and Ellington authority DAVID BERGER; veteran bandleader and clarinet player BOB WILBER; bassist, former LCJO member and current director of Jazz Studies at Michigan State University RODNEY WHITAKER, and JALC Artistic Director WYNTON MARSALIS – will judge each band's performance of three Ellington works. At the 7:30pm concert on May 24, the top three bands will perform alone and with Mr. Marsalis as soloist, followed by the LCJO performing an all-Ellington set with special guest FRANCESCO CAFISO. Admission to the competition is FREE. Tickets for the concert at $20 are available at the Avery Fisher Hall box office, by calling CenterCharge at (212) 721-6500, or at www.jazzatlincolncenter.org. Please inquire about group discounts by calling (212) 258-9817.

COMPETITION OVERVIEW
For each year's competition, JALC selects and transcribes original arrangements of several Duke Ellington compositions, previously unavailable, which are then published by Warner Bros. Publications, Inc. The six selections for 2004, which reflect the variety of styles and forms in Ellington's body of work, are: Jack The Bear, Rhapsody In Blue, Sugar Rum Cherry from the "Nutcracker Suite," Stompy Jones, Diminuendo and Crescendo in Blue and Bli-Blip from "Jump for Joy." These arrangements are distributed for a $50 registration fee to all high school jazz bands that express interest in the program by returning an application card.

Of the 1,140 bands that received this year's six compositions and educational materials, 102 submitted recordings of three of those compositions to enter the competition. These recordings were evaluated in a blind screening by jazz education experts DAVID BERGER, RON CARTER, LOREN SCHOENBERG and REGINALD THOMAS. The 15 finalists were selected based on the criteria of soulfulness, improvisation, interpretation, technique, and tone/intonation. In addition, they were each evaluated within one of two categories. In Category A, 77 school groups who were not finalists in the past two years, competed for 10 finalist slots. In Category B, 17 school groups who were finalists in EE 2003 or 2002, competed for five finalist slots. These 15 bands will compete against each other in New York City on May 23 & 24.

This year a new Category C was created for conglomerate groups, those made up of students from more than one school. There were eight submissions to Category C, and the winning group receives a workshop with Ellington authority DAVID BERGER. Bands not wishing to enter the actual competition are invited to send in a recording before April for comments only. Each band that sent in a recording received a detailed critique of their performance and a certificate signed by Artistic Director, Wynton Marsalis.

Throughout April 2004, JALC will send, free of charge, a professional musician to each of the 15 finalist schools to lead an intensive daylong workshop of rehearsals, lessons, and master classes. The clinicians include trumpeter TERELL STAFFORD; drummer JUSTIN DICIOCCIO; reed players RON CARTER and VICTOR GOINES, and pianist ARTURO O'FARRILL. During the festival in May, each finalist band is paired up with a LCJO member as a mentor.

The cash awards presented at the final concert, which go towards enhancing the schools' jazz programs, are: $2,000 for first place, $1,500 for second place, and $1,000 for third place. Additionally, two bands each receive $750 honorable mention awards, and the remaining 10 bands receive a $500 award. Special awards are presented to outstanding soloists and sections. JALC will also award up to $20,000 in travel stipends to assist bands in their travel to New York City.

HISTORY Essentially Ellington disseminates Duke Ellington compositions to high school jazz bands, encourages the study and performance of Ellington's music, and fosters mentoring relationships between students and professional musicians. The program has seen major growth in its nine years; open originally, in 1996, to schools in the New York tri-state area, it expanded to 13 states and D.C. in 1997 and then to all 26 states east of the Mississippi River in 1998. In 1999, the program opened up to all 50 states and U.S. territories. In 2000, JALC inaugurated an annual companion program - for educators only - the Band Director Academy. In 2001, Essentially Ellington expanded to include high school jazz bands from throughout Canada. In August 2002, the inaugural Essentially Ellington Down Under took place in Perth, West Australia, at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts. This year, JALC continues the Third Annual Essentially Ellington Essay Contest, inviting students from all participating high schools to submit an essay describing a personal experience with jazz. Essays were received from across the country and Canada, from which author and scholar ALBERT MURRAY will choose the winners. The first place winner will be able to name a seat in Frederick P. Rose Hall – the new home of Jazz at Lincoln Center – slated to open in October of this year. The winner will be acknowledged at the Essentially Ellington awards ceremony on May 24.