Jazz at Lincoln Center Announces 2023 Jack Rudin Jazz Championship
New York, NY (November 10, 2022) – Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) is proud to announce the third annual Jack Rudin Jazz Championship, a two-day invitational competition featuring ensembles from ten of the most well-regarded university jazz programs in the country. Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Jack Rudin Jazz Championship is set to take place on January 14-15, 2023 throughout Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located on Broadway at 60th Street, New York, New York. Tickets are on sale now at jazz.org/jackrudin. The 2023 Jack Rudin Jazz Championship will also be available to stream on Jazz Live at Jazzlive.com.
Ensembles competing in the 2023 Jack Rudin Jazz Championship hail from the following colleges and universities:
- Florida State University (Tallahassee, FL)
- Ithaca College (Ithaca, NY)
- Michigan State University College of Music (East Lansing, MI)
- North Carolina Central University (Durham, NC)
- Northern Illinois University (Dekalb, IL)
- Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University (Baltimore, MD)
- Temple University (Philadelphia, PA)
- Texas Southern University (Houston, TX)
- University of Wyoming (Laramie, WY)
- Vanderbilt University (Nashville, TN)
The Jack Rudin Jazz Championship honors the legacy of Jack Rudin, longtime supporter of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and his founding support for Essentially Ellington, the organization’s signature transformative education program. Launched in 2020, right before the pandemic, the Jack Rudin Jazz Championship provides participating ensembles with quality literature and a forum for celebrating excellence and achievement, while introducing higher education to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s education methodology and philosophy—extending JALC’s educational mission into the sphere of professional development for the next generation of leading jazz artists.
The Jack Rudin Jazz Championship competition events will include a combo showcase in The Appel Room, an initial round of competition performances, and a final concert in Rose Theater featuring a performance by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra as well as the final competition, with a second round of competition performances by the three top-placing bands, followed by an awards ceremony and announcement of the band taking top honors. The ensembles will also participate in rehearsals and workshops throughout Rose Hall over the course of the event.
The 2023 competition will be judged by a panel of leading jazz performers, composers, and educators: Wynton Marsalis, Jeff Hamilton, Ted Nash, Catherine Russell, and more to be announced at a later date.
Jazz at Lincoln Center Vice President of Education Todd Stoll says, “The Rudin Jazz Championship is fast becoming one of the great celebrations for jazz. The love, camaraderie, and fellowship are second only to the level of excellence seen on our stages.”
A longtime supporter of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jack Rudin and his beloved wife Susan have been steadfast in their commitment to jazz and Jazz at Lincoln Center’s mission. The Rudins understood very early on the value and importance of educating youth about this important American art form—jazz. Jack was all about education for young people, particularly those who were disadvantaged. In 2012, the Rudins generously endowed Jazz at Lincoln Center’s national Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program, the first of our programs to be endowed.
Jazz at Lincoln Center serves the largest jazz education program network in the world, and its initiatives are based on the organization’s 35-year history of education in jazz performance and appreciation. Goals of each program are for students to gain insight into American vernacular music and jazz, learn the communal history of jazz in a sociopolitical context, receive guidance on how to better communicate personal objectives, and gain awareness of the mission of jazz musicians today building on the aspirations laid by earlier generations.
2023 JACK RUDIN JAZZ CHAMPIONSHIP TICKETED & LIVESTREAM EVENTS:
Saturday, January 14, 2023
7:00pm: Combo Showcase (Appel Room)
Sunday, January 15, 2023
10:00am-12:00pm: Competition Part I (Rose Theater)
1:30-3:30pm: Competition Part II (Rose Theater)
7:30pm: Final Concert (Final round of competition, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performance, Awards Ceremony) (Rose Theater)
For additional information, visit jazz.org/jackrudin