Beginning today through June 5, 2021, more than two hundred of the top high school students from coast to coast will participate in Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2021 Virtual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Festival.

Today, Blue Engine Records releases the first recording of Blues Symphony (Symphony No. 2), an innovative and colossal work from Pulitzer Prize-winning composer Wynton Marsalis. In the hands of The Philadelphia Orchestra under the direction of celebrated conductor Cristian Măcelaru, Blues Symphony (Marsalis’s second symphony) takes the 12-bar blues and explodes it into a lyrical, kaleidoscopic history of American music.

Nearly 100 panelists, several performances, and 21 interactive panels, programs, and masterclasses will be featured at the 2021 Jazz Congress, a virtual conference designed to address the concerns and needs facing the global jazz community during this challenging, unprecedented time.

Jazz at Lincoln Center announces Grand Seiko as “Official Timekeeper” of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2020-21/2021-22 season. A brand that raises the pure essentials of watchmaking to an art form, Grand Seiko will be a sponsor of Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 2020-21/2021-22 concert seasons.

Faced with enormous challenges due to concerns around COVID-19, band directors and high school student jazz musicians around the country have applied innovative and creative approaches to perform with and learn from each other. Inspired by this dedication and commitment, Jazz at Lincoln Center continues its support for this unique community and today announced plans to salute these high school students at the 2021 Virtual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Festival on June 4—5, 2021.

To ensure the safety of participants during the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, Jazz at Lincoln Center and JazzTimes will hold this year’s edition of the annual Jazz Congress conference online, featuring interactive programs and performances designed to address the concerns and needs facing the global jazz community during this challenging, unprecedented time.