Newark Academy Wins First Place in Jazz at Lincoln Center's 29th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival
Newark Academy, photo by Gilberto Tadday
(NEW YORK, NY) -- Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) announced the three top-placing high school jazz bands in the nation plus more than 100 individual and section awards in the prestigious 29th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival - held May 9-11, 2024 at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center and the hallmark program for the largest jazz education network in the world. The competition is part of the organization's festival of events celebrating the 125th birthday of Duke Ellington, one of music's most influential composers, musicians, and bandleaders; and Jazz at Lincoln Center's lodestar since the organization's founding in 1987.
Todd Stoll, Vice President of Education at Jazz at Lincoln Center, presented awards to each of the 15 high school jazz band finalists. Newark Academy from Livingston, NJ took home the first place trophy and an award of $5,000. Osceola County School for the Arts from Kissimmee, FL earned second place honors and a prize of $2,500. Agoura High School from Agoura Hills, CA accepted third place with an award of $1,000. The remaining bands were each awarded $500. All monetary awards will go toward improving the jazz education programs of each respective high school.
In addition to highlighting the best high school jazz bands, the event also recognized Ori Moore, a member of the Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble from Raleigh, North Carolina, for winning the 12th Annual Dr. J. Douglas White Essentially Ellington Student Composition and Arranging Contest. On May 8, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra recorded his original composition, “Fallin.’” On May 11, at the Essentially Ellington awards ceremony, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra performed the work as Moore directed onstage. Additionally, Moore received a $1,000 cash prize, a composition lesson with Grammy Award-winning musician and Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member Ted Nash, and a free trip to New York City for the weekend. He also served as a featured pianist in his ensemble’s performance at the competition.
During the three-day festival, students engaged in a Q&A with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra during the orchestra’s open rehearsal, section-specific masterclasses, jam sessions with Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra members, pre-performance rehearsals, a celebratory dinner, and more. New this year, in honor of Ellington’s milestone birthday, the program offered eight never-before-available scores of Ellington’s music, each representing a different decade of his career (1920s-70s), which bands had the option to play as part of their submission. The weekend culminated in a Saturday night concert and awards ceremony on Jazz at Lincoln Center’s iconic Rose Theater stage where each top-placing band performed with its choice of Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member as a featured soloist.
The Essentially Ellington competition is one of the year-round programs Jazz at Lincoln Center produces to honor Ellington’s legacy; since the program’s founding in 1996, it has distributed nearly 400,000 Ellington music charts for free to 55,000 high-school bands in 58 countries, involving more than one million students. The Wall Street Journal recently appraised JALC’s mission, calling the organization’s efforts to create new audiences for Ellington’s music “an unprecedented success story.”
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Complete list of Essentially Ellington awardees:
1st PLACE - Newark Academy (Livingston, NJ); Directed by Julius Tolentino
2nd PLACE - Osceola County School for the Arts (Kissimmee, FL); Directed by Jason Anderson
3rd PLACE - Agoura High School (Agoura Hills, CA); Directed by Chad Bloom
HONORABLE MENTION RHYTHM SECTION: Garfield High School; King Philip Regional High School; Byron Center High School; Roosevelt High School; Bothell High School
OUTSTANDING RHYTHM SECTION: Osceola County School for the Arts; Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts; Newark Academy; Agoura High School; Susan E. Wagner High School
HONORABLE MENTION SAXOPHONE SECTION: Beloit Memorial High School; Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage
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OUTSTANDING SAXOPHONE SECTION: Bothell High School; Agoura High School; Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble; Susan E. Wagner High School
HONORABLE MENTION TROMBONE SECTION: Byron Center High School; Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage
OUTSTANDING TROMBONE SECTION: Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts; Bothell High School
Newark Academy; Agoura High School; Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble; Susan E. Wagner High School
HONORABLE MENTION TRUMPET SECTION: King Philip Regional High School
OUTSTANDING TRUMPET SECTION: Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts; Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble
HONORABLE MENTION BRASS SECTION: Garfield High School
OUTSTANDING BRASS SECTION: Osceola County School for the Arts; Bothell High School
HONORABLE MENTION PIANO: Elliott Beck (Garfield High School); Miles Wisdom (Beloit Memorial High School); Aytan Sternberg (Roosevelt High School); Ori Moore (Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble)
OUTSTANDING PIANO: Ben Collins-Siegel (Newark Academy); Nathan Tatsuta (Orange County School of the Arts); Emmet Althoen (Orange County School of the Arts); Isaiah Sokol (Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage); Jared Zhao (Susan E. Wagner High School)
HONORABLE MENTION GUITAR: Agustin Palao-Osorio (Plano West Senior High School); Sydney Law (Byron Center High School)
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OUTSTANDING GUITAR: Ari Pereira (Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts)
HONORABLE MENTION BASS: Lauren Higgins (Beloit Memorial High School)
OUTSTANDING BASS: Laesio Littlejohn (Plano West Senior High School); Myles Robinson (Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts); Annie Faul (Roosevelt High School); Katie Prindle (Bothell High School)
HONORABLE MENTION DRUMS: Alexander Polyakovsky (Roosevelt High School)
OUTSTANDING DRUMS: Evan Beck (Garfield High School); Matthew Black (Osceola County School for the Arts); Sonialynn Jackson (Osceola County School for the Arts); Darius Wilson (Beloit Memorial High School)
Shawn Pierce (King Philip Regional High School); David Aloni (Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts)
Ben Schwartz (Newark Academy); Calvin Baber (Agoura High School); Ethan Oliver (Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble); Ryan Weaver (Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage)
OUTSTANDING FLUTE: Aidan Gardner (Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts)
HONORABLE MENTION CLARINET: Sky Van Scoyoc (Roosevelt High School)
HONORABLE MENTION SOPRANO SAXOPHONE: Will Brooks (Byron Center High School)
OUTSTANDING SOPRANO SAXOPHONE: Samuel Chung (Orange County School of the Arts)
HONORABLE MENTION ALTO SAXOPHONE: Emily Vu (Orange County School of the Arts); Sean Mccoy (Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble); Evan Scamehorn (Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage)
OUTSTANDING LEAD ALTO SAXOPHONE: HARRISON CHISHOLM (King Philip Regional High School)
OUTSTANDING ALTO SAXOPHONE: Clayton Bristol (Plano West Senior High School); Solomon Geleta (Osceola County School for the Arts); Jack Lieberman (Agoura High School)
HONORABLE MENTION TENOR SAXOPHONE: Matthew Moore (Plano West Senior High School); Anna Sayrs (Roosevelt High School)
OUTSTANDING TENOR SAXOPHONE: Taiyo Fuwa (Roosevelt High School); Ani Chakravarthy (Newark Academy)
HONORABLE MENTION VIOLA: Mattix Le (Agoura High School)
HONORABLE MENTION TROMBONE: Tyler Anderson (Byron Center High School); Ben Valliere (Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble); Andrew Krivenko (Susan E. Wagner High School)
OUTSTANDING TROMBONE: Danial Browne (Osceola County School for the Arts); Beck Sawtelle (King Philip Regional High School); Vanessa Fang (Newark Academy); Jordan Klein (Agoura High School); James Dechary (Orange County School of the Arts); Luke Ramee (Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble); Javin Ganewattage (Susan E. Wagner High School)
HONORABLE MENTION FLUGELHORN: Rayhan Driver (Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage); Andrew Gabaldon (Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage)
HONORABLE MENTION TRUMPET: Liam Lecuona (Agoura High School); Allison Molin (Orange County School of the Arts); Andrew Gabaldon (Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage); Paul Whalen (Susan E. Wagner High School)
OUTSTANDING TRUMPET: Timothy Park (Garfield High School); Xavier Anderson (Osceola County School for the Arts); Dean Cardner (King Philip Regional High School); Matthew Harper (Alexander Dreyfoos School of the Arts); Jacob Tolentino (Newark Academy); Ian Shin (Orange County School of the Arts)
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OUTSTANDING LEAD TRUMPET: Ian Yadon (Beloit Memorial High School); Ariya Rouzbahani (Agoura High School; Ryan Villamagna (Susan E. Wagner High School)
THE SNOOKY YOUNG AWARD: Xavier Anderson (Osceola County School for the Arts)
THE ELLA FITZGERALD OUTSTANDING SOLOIST AWARD: Jordan Klein (Agoura High School)
The top-placing bands were chosen by a judging panel comprising distinguished jazz musicians and historians, including Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra alto saxophonist Sherman Irby, top jazz drummer Jeff Hamilton, acclaimed trumpet player Terell Stafford, esteemed trombonist with the United States Navy Commodores Jennifer Krupa, and renowned trumpet player and educator Sean Jones.
The 2024 Essentially Ellington Competition Finalists (in alphabetical order):
Agoura High School (Agoura Hills, CA)
Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts (West Palm Beach, FL)
Beloit Memorial High School (Beloit, WI)
Bothell High School (Bothell, WA)
Byron Center High School (Byron Center, MI)
Garfield High School (Seattle, WA)
King Philip Regional High School (Wrentham, MA)
Newark Academy (Livingston, NJ)
Orange County School of the Arts (Santa Ana, CA)
Osceola County School for the Arts (Kissimmee, FL)
Plano West Senior High School (Plano, TX)
Roosevelt High School (Seattle, WA)
Susan E. Wagner High School (Staten Island, NY)
Triangle Youth Jazz Ensemble (Raleigh, NC)
Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage (Wheaton, IL)
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For more information, please visit jazz.org/ee.
The mission of Jazz at Lincoln Center is to entertain, enrich and expand a global community for Jazz through performance, education, and advocacy. With the world-renowned Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and guest artists spanning genres and generations, Jazz at Lincoln Center produces thousands of performance, education, and broadcast events each season in its New York City home (Frederick P. Rose Hall, “The House of Swing”) and worldwide, for all ages. Jazz at Lincoln Center is led by Chairman Clarence Otis, Managing and Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis, and Executive Director Greg Scholl.
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