Jazz at Lincoln Center Announces winners of Essentially Ellington Competition 2019
Three Top-Placing Bands: First Place: Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA Second Place: Dillard Center for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL Third Place: Foxboro High School, Foxboro, MA
New York, NY – May 11, 2019 – Jazz at Lincoln Center today announced the three top-placing high school jazz bands in the nation in the prestigious 24th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.
The first-place winner is Roosevelt High School from Seattle, WA. The second-place winner is Dillard Center for the Arts from Fort Lauderdale, FL and third-place winner is Foxboro High School from Foxboro, MA.
Wynton Marsalis, Managing and Artistic Director, Jazz at Lincoln Center, says, “We’re fortunate to play Duke Ellington’s music, and we realize that the Duke Ellington legacy is about creativity – we heard and saw that in our young people. You lifted our spirits and it’s been our honor.”
Beginning on May 9, the 15 finalist high school jazz bands were immersed in three days of mentoring, jam sessions, and workshops. The competition culminated in tonight’s concert where each top-placing band performed with their choice Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member as a soloist. The concert also featured the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis – whose members served as mentors for the finalist bands throughout the week – performing repertoire made famous by Duke Ellington.
In the spirit of creativity and continuing the jazz legacy, Jazz at Lincoln Center also recognized the winner of the 7th Annual J. Douglas White Essentially Ellington Student Composition and Arranging Contest, Miles Lennox of Dillard Center for the Arts (Fort Lauderdale, FL). Miles is an alumnus of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Summer Jazz Academy program and the Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival, where he won Outstanding Soloist for piano. Miles’ composition was recorded by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at their annual Essentially Ellington recording session on Wednesday, May 8. In addition, Miles received a $1,000 cash prize, a composition lesson with Ted Nash, and a trip to New York City for the weekend to observe the Festival.
Arts education has been a pillar of Jazz at Lincoln Center since it was founded over thirty years ago, with the Essentially Ellington Program serving as a programming cornerstone for 24 of those years.
The annual Competition & Festival marks the culmination of the annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program, which includes non-competitive regional festivals throughout the U.S. and Australia, free transcriptions of the music of Duke Ellington, reference recordings, additional teaching resources, free adjudication, and more. The Essentially Ellington program has reached over 6,600 schools and independent bands in 55 countries.
Photos of the three finalist bands can be found here. Credit should be attributed to: Ayano Hisa/Jazz at Lincoln Center.
JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER 24TH ANNUAL ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ BAND COMPETITION & FESTIVAL
1st PLACE: Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA
2nd PLACE: Dillard Center for the Arts, Fort Lauderdale, FL
3rd PLACE: Foxboro High School, Foxboro, MA
SECTION AWARDS: OUTSTANDING RHYTHM SECTION: Newark Academy Dillard Center for the Arts Foxboro High School
OUTSTANDING SAXOPHONE SECTION: Foxboro High School
OUTSTANDING BRASS SECTION: Rio Americano High School Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble Roosevelt High School
OUTSTANDING TROMBONE SECTION: Sun Prairie High School Roosevelt High School Dillard Center for the Arts Foxboro High School William H. Hall High School Garfield High School
OUTSTANDING TRUMPET SECTION: Denver School of the Arts Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble| Foxboro High School Dillard Center for the Arts Roosevelt High School Beloit Memorial High School
HONORABLE MENTION PIANO: Luca Moretti - Newark Academy Aaron Korver - Roosevelt High School Sam Hanson - Tarpon Springs High School
OUTSTANDING PIANO: Mitchell Galligan - Denver School of the Arts Kallan Engleson - Sun Prairie High School Miles Lennox - Dillard Center for the Arts
HONORABLE MENTION BASS: Will Jammes - Garfield High School Aviel Delrosario - Dillard Center for the Arts Gavin Gray - William H. Hall High School
OUTSTANDING BASS: Vikram Bala - Newark Academy Will Hazelhurst - Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble John Murray - San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts
HONORABLE MENTION GUITAR: Megan Cody - Denver School of the Arts Jack Graves - Garfield High School
OUTSTANDING GUITAR: Brennen Ravenberg – William H. Hall High School Tyler Feldman - Garfield High School
HONORABLE MENTION DRUMS: Henry Mohr - Roosevelt High School Joel Anderson - Dillard Center for the Arts Corey Hall - Foxboro High School Liam Sweeney - Foxboro High School Meghan Lock - Tarpon Springs High School
HONORABLE MENTION VIBRAPHONE: Alec Streete - Denver School of the Arts Nate Mesler - Roosevelt High School Ben Dunham - Tarpon Springs High School
HONORABLE MENTION CLARINET: Allen Lin - Newark Academy Val Barrieau - William H. Hall High School
OUTSTANDING CLARINET: Toby Keys - Rio Americano High School Victor Lawton - Dillard Center for the Arts
HONORABLE MENTION ALTO SAXOPHONE: Connor Ettinger - Rio Americano High School Andrew Long - Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble Megan Rault - Sun Prairie High School Liam Vargas - Dillard Center for the Arts Chris Faison - Tarpon Springs High School Avinash Chung - Garfield High School
OUTSTANDING ALTO SAXOPHONE: Michael Wang - Newark Academy Tiger Diep - San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts
HONORABLE MENTION TENOR SAXOPHONE: Jackson Beymer - Mount Si High School Michael Hussey - Foxboro High School Alvin Paige - San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts
OUTSTANDING TENOR SAXOPHONE: Jonathan Downs - Middleton High School Roland Burnot - Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble George Fulton - Roosevelt High School Noah Yonteff Mathog - William H. Hall High School Noah Poepping - Beloit Memorial High School Aidan Siemann - Garfield High School
OUTSTANDING BARITONE SAXOPHONE: Andrew Stine - Middleton High School Nick Altemeier - Roosevelt High School
HONORABLE MENTION DOUBLER: Daniel Reichert - Tarpon Springs High School (Clarinet & Tenor Saxophone)
OUTSTANDING DOUBLER: Chris Ferrari - Denver School of the Arts (Clarinet & Tenor Saxophone) Eli Sullivan - Roosevelt High School (Soprano & Alto Saxophone)
OUTSTANDING TRIPLER: Connor Hoyt - Foxboro High School (Clarinet, Soprano & Alto Saxophone)
HONORABLE MENTION TROMBONE: Sam Keedy - Denver School of the Arts Jack Bendure - Denver School of the Arts James Kolke - Mount Si High School Tyler Stoll - Sun Prairie High School Geneva Raymond - Foxboro High School
OUTSTANDING TROMBONE: Elise Toney - Roosevelt High School Charles Blagrove - Dillard Center for the Arts Eli Heinen - William H. Hall High School August Braatz - Beloit Memorial High School
OUTSTANDING BASS TROMBONE: Gavin Baker - William H. Hall High School
HONORABLE MENTION TRUMPET: Emerson Borg - Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble Keon Gooding - Dillard Center for the Arts Naomi Patten - Beloit Memorial High School Sylvester Saliba - Tarpon Springs High School
OUTSTANDING TRUMPET: Grady Flamm - Rio Americano High School Will Knight - Roosevelt High School Carter Eng - Roosevelt High School Summer Camargo - Dillard Center for the Arts Adam Hobson - Beloit Memorial High School
HONORABLE MENTION VOCALS: Samantha Powell - Newark Academy Sage Eisenhour - Mount Si High School
OUTSTANDING VOCALS: Kaleen Barton - Tarpon Springs High School
ELLA FITZGERALD OUTSTANDING SOLOIST AWARD: John Murray – San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts
Each finalist band was chosen by a panel of judges comprised of distinguished jazz musicians and historians: Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis; Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member and Jazz Ambassador at Jazz at Lincoln Center Shanghai Walter Blanding; music director and critically acclaimed pianist Aaron Diehl; big band leader, drummer and Grammy Award-nominated recording artist Jeff Hamilton; and band leader and Grammy Award-winning baritone saxophonist Lauren Sevian.
At the awards ceremony, Wynton Marsalis presented awards to each of the 15 finalist high school jazz bands. Roosevelt High School accepted the first place trophy and an award of 5,000. Dillard Center for the Arts accepted the second place trophy and an award of 2,500. Foxboro High School accepted the third place trophy with an award of 1,000. The remaining twelve bands were each awarded cash prizes of 500. All monetary awards are to be used for improving the jazz education programs of each respective high school.
The 15 Finalists for Essentially Ellington 2019 : Beloit Memorial High School (Beloit, WI) Denver School of the Arts (Denver, CO) Dillard Center for the Arts (Fort Lauderdale, FL) Foxboro High School (Foxboro, MA) Garfield High School (Seattle, WA) Middleton High School (Middleton, WI) Mount Si High School (Snoqualmie, WA) Newark Academy (Livingston, NJ) Rio Americano High School (Sacramento, CA) Roosevelt High School (Seattle, WA) San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts (San Diego, CA) Sun Prairie High School (Sun Prairie, WI) Tarpon Springs High School (Tarpon Springs, FL) Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble (Raleigh, NC) William H. Hall High School (West Hartford, CT)
For more information, including background, history, and audio recordings of the Essentially Ellington repertoire, visit: jazz.org/ee
The Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival is media-accessible via Jazz at Lincoln Center social media on Facebook: facebook.com/EssentiallyEllington, Twitter: @EssEllington, Instagram: @jazzdotorg.
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