Jazz at Lincoln Center proudly announces the three top-placing high school jazz bands in the nation that took the highest honors tonight at the prestigious 23rd 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 Dillard Center for the Arts from Ft. Lauderdale, FL. The second-place winner is Newark Academy from Livingston, NJ and third-place winner is Tucson Jazz Institute from Tucson, AZ. Honorable Mention is Beloit Memorial High School from Beloit, WI and Roosevelt High School from Seattle, WA .
Beginning on May 10, the top 15 high school jazz bands in the country participated in the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival and were immersed in three days of mentoring, jam sessions, and workshops. The competition culminated in tonight’s concert wherein each top-placing band performed with their choice Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member as a soloist. The final 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.
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; composer, arranger, acclaimed pianist Bill Charlap; big band leader, drummer and Grammy-nominated recording artist Jeff Hamilton; acclaimed musician and former Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member Todd Williams and renowned flautist, saxophonist, composer, educator, and EE Alum Erica von Kleist.
At the ceremony, Wynton Marsalis presented awards to each of the 15 finalist high school jazz bands. Dillard Center for the Arts accepted the first place trophy and an award of $5,000. Newark Academy accepted the second place trophy and an award of $2,500. Tucson Jazz Institute accepted the third place trophy with an award of $1,000. Roosevelt High School and Beloit Memorial High School received honorable mention with an award of $750. The remaining ten bands were each awarded cash awards of $500. All monetary awards are to be used for improving the jazz education programs of each respective high school.
Jazz at Lincoln Center’s 23rd Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival Awards
1st PLACE:
Dillard Center for the Arts (Ft. Lauderdale, FL)
2nd PLACE:
Newark Academy (Livingston, NJ)
3rd PLACE:
Tucson Jazz Institute (Tucson, AZ)
HONORABLE MENTION:
Roosevelt High School (Seattle, WA)
Beloit Memorial High School (Beloit, WI)
SECTION AWARDS:
HONORABLE MENTION, RHYTHM SECTION:
Dillard Center for the Arts
HONORABLE MENTION, DRUMMERS:
Roosevelt High School
OUTSTANDING RHYTHM SECTION:
Tucson Jazz Institute
OUTSTANDING SAXOPHONE SECTION:
Newton South High School
Sun Prairie High School
William H. Hall High School
Beloit Memorial High School|
Roosevelt High School
Tucson Jazz Institute
OUTSTANDING TROMBONE SECTION:
Ballard High School
Mountlake Terrace High School
Osceola County School for the Arts
William H. Hall High School
OUTSTANDING TRUMPET SECTION:
Carroll Senior High School
Dillard Center for the Arts
Ballard High School
Osceola County School for the Arts
Tucson Jazz Institute
OUTSTANDING BRASS SECTION:
Champaign Central High School
Beloit Memorial High School
SOLOIST AWARDS:
HONORABLE MENTION, PIANO:
Matthew Kuperberg (Agoura High School)
Jazmin Harvey (Tucson Jazz Institute)
Kade Lehman (Carroll Senior High School)
OUTSTANDING PIANO:
Jonathan Paik (Agoura High School)
Miles Lennox (Dillard Center for the Arts)
Aaron Korver (Roosevelt High School)
HONORABLE MENTION, BASS:
Vikram Bala (Newark Academy)
Nolan Nwachukwu (Dillard Center for the Arts)
Henrick Zhang (Agoura High School)
Sophie Parsons (Mountlake Terrace High School)
OUTSTANDING BASS:
Gavin Gray (William H. Hall High School)
Ryan Magness (Tucson Jazz Institute)
OUTSTANDING GUITAR:
Cosimo Fabrizio (Newark Academy)
Gian Neri (Mountlake Terrace High School)
Liam McCabe (Carroll Senior High School)
OUTSTANDING RHYTHM GUITAR:
Ari Marko (Beloit Memorial High School)
HONORABLE MENTION, DRUMS:
Kobe Conomon (Osceola County School for the Arts)
Will Snider (Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble)
OUTSTANDING DRUMS:
Maddie Mueller (Beloit Memorial High School)
Toby Siegel (William H. Hall High School)
Jamesly Jeanmary (Dillard Center for the Arts)
Megan Petrass (Tucson Jazz Institute)
Teddy McGraw (Newark Academy)
HONORABLE MENTION, ALTO SAXOPHONE:
Andrew Tanenbaum (Agoura High School)
Sean Bowman (Roosevelt High School)
Abby Miller (Newton South High School)
OUTSTANDING ALTO SAXOPHONE:
Katie Webster (Ballard High School)
Jay Nelson (Agoura High School)
Samuel Ma (Carroll Senior High School)
Eric Law (Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble)
HONORABLE MENTION, SOPRANO SAXOPHONE:
Kyra Devlin (Sun Prairie High School)
OUTSTANDING SOPRANO SAXOPHONE:
Megan Rault (Sun Prairie High School)
HONORABLE MENTION, TENOR SAXOPHONE:
Adrian Sowicz (Beloit Memorial High School)
OUTSTANDING TENOR SAXOPHONE:
Aiden Ryser (Roosevelt High School)
Kyle Cantrell (Carroll Senior High School)
Micah Patton (Champaign Central High School)
Ben Canfield (Tucson Jazz Institute)
Bennett Leclair (Sun Prairie High School)
Elliot Halpern (Roosevelt High School)
Allen Zhu (Newark Academy)
Brendan James (Carroll Senior High School)
Max Hubbard (Champaign Central High School)
HONORABLE MENTION, CLARINET:
Dillon Crawford (Sun Prairie High School)
OUTSTANDING CLARINET:
Yuval Agam (Newton South High School)
OUTSTANDING BARITONE SAXOPHONE:
Michael Baril (William H. Hall High School)
Xander Johns (Roosevelt High School)
HONORABLE MENTION, DOUBLER – CLARINET & TENOR:
Kieran Hitsman (Dillard Center for the Arts)
OUTSTANDING DOUBLER – CLARINET & TENOR:
Jaden Rankin (Agoura High School)
OUTSTANDING DOUBLER – PIANO AND TROMBONE:
Denali Kauffman (Tucson Jazz Institute)
HONORABLE MENTION, TROMBONE:
Eli Heinen (William H. Hall High School)
OUTSTANDING TROMBONE:
August Braatz (Beloit Memorial High School)
HONORABLE MENTION, TRUMPET:
Naomi Patten (Beloit Memorial High School)
Emerson Borg (Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble)
Joe Fotheringham (Ballard High School)
OUTSTANDING TRUMPET:
Eric Gonzalez (Osceola County School for the Arts)
Summer Camargo (Dillard Center for the Arts)
Caleb Fried (Newton South High School)
Carlos Rangel (Tucson Jazz Institute)
Adam Hobson (Beloit Memorial High School)
OUTSTANDING LEAD TRUMPET:
Jack McDonald (Champaign Central High School)
OUTSTANDING VIOLIN:
Evan Snoey (Ballard High School)
OUTSTANDING VOCALS:
Samantha Powell (Newark Academy)
Nadia Nicole Bailey (Dillard Center for the Arts)
Emma Lanford (Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble)
Chris McDole (Osceola County School for the Arts)
The Ella Fitzgerald Outstanding Soloist Award:
Summer Camargo
(Dillard Center for the Arts)
In the spirit of creativity and continuing the jazz legacy, Jazz at Lincoln Center also recognized the winner of the 6th Annual J. Douglas White Essentially Ellington Student Composition/Arranging Contest, Summer Camargo of Dillard Center for the Arts (Fort Lauderdale, FL). Each submission was critiqued by composer, arranger, and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra saxophonist, Ted Nash, and the winning selection was recorded by the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra at their annual Essentially Ellington recording session on Wednesday, May 9. In addition, the winning composer received a cash prize, a composition lesson with Ted Nash, and a trip to New York City to observe the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra recording session and the 2018 Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival.
The Competition & Festival is the culmination of the annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program (EE), which also includes non-competitive regional festivals around the country, teaching resources, a summer Band Director Academy, and more. The year-long Essentially Ellington program will have distributed more than 42,400 newly transcribed scores by the end of this school year. For more information including background, history and audio recordings of the Essentially Ellington repertoire, and more, visit: www.jazz.org/ee
This year, the Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival was accessible via social media on Facebook, Twitter @EssEllington, and Instagram @jazzdotorg. Throughout the weekend, students, viewers, and participants shared their thoughts and photos by using the hashtag #EssentiallyEllington.
The 15 Finalists for Essentially Ellington 2018 (in alphabetical order):
Agoura High School (Agoura Hills, CA); Ballard High School (Seattle, WA); Beloit Memorial High School (Beloit, WI); Carroll Senior High School (Southlake, TX); Champaign Central High School (Champaign, IL); Dillard Center for the Arts (Fort Lauderdale, FL); Mountlake Terrace High School (Mountlake Terrace, WA); Newark Academy (Livingston, NJ); Newton South High School (Newton, MA); Osceola County School for the Arts (Kissimmee, FL); Roosevelt High School (Seattle, WA); Sun Prairie High School (Sun Prairie, WI); Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble (Raleigh, NC); Tucson Jazz Institute (Tucson, AZ); William H. Hall High School (West Hartford, CT)
Founding leadership support for Essentially Ellington is provided by
The Jack and Susan Rudin Educational and Scholarship Fund.
Major support is provided by Jessica and Natan Bibliowicz, Alfred and Gail Engelberg, Casey Lipscomb, Dr. J. Douglas White and the King-White Family Foundation, Augustine Foundation, Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation, and the Harold and Mimi Steinberg Charitable Trust, Bloomberg, Con Edison, Entergy, and United Airlines.