Jazz at Lincoln Center
33 West 60th St., 11th floor
New York, NY 10023
www.jalc.org
For Immediate Release: 5/6/2007
For more information, please contact:
DANA BARDEN (212) 258-9868, dbarden@jalc.org
High resolution, downloadable photos available: http://www.jalc.org/about/2007_galleries/ee07/
NORTH AMERICA'S BEST HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ BANDS!
JAZZ AT LINCOLN CENTER
ANNOUNCES WINNERS OF
THE
12th ANNUAL ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON
HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ BAND COMPETITION
1st Place:
Roosevelt High School
2nd Place:
Agoura High School Studio Jazz Band
3rd Place:
Foxboro High School
New York, NY (May 6, 2007) Tonight, three high school jazz bands took top honors in Jazz at Lincoln Center's 12th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival. Each band was chosen by a panel of judges composed of distinguished jazz musicians and historians - chosen by a panel of judges composed of distinguished jazz musicians and historians WYNTON MARSALIS, Jazz at Lincoln Center Artistic Director; Music Director, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, DAVID BAKER; composer, conductor, and Ellington authority DAVID BERGER; and author, composer, and conductor GUNTHER SCHULLER from among the 15 finalist bands from the U.S. and Canada that came to the Competition & Festival on May 4, 5, & 6, 2007.
Essentially Ellington culminated in tonight's concert at Avery Fisher Hall, where the top placing bands performed with Wynton Marsalis as a soloist followed by an all Ellington concert performed by the 15-piece Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra all of whom serve as mentors for each of the finalist bands during this weekend festival. Thef Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO) Ellington compositions performed tonight will be distributed by Jazz at Lincoln Center for the 2007-2008 Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program.
At the awards ceremony, Wynton Marsalis, presented prizes to each of the 15 finalist bands. Scott Brown, director of the Roosevelt High School Jazz Band, accepted the 1st place trophy and award of $1,000. John Mosley, director of the Agoura High School Studio Jazz Band accepted the 2nd place trophy and award of $750. Stephen Massey, director of the Foxboro High School Jazz Band, accepted the 3rd place trophy and award of $500. King Philip Regional High School Jazz Band was named honorable mention band and was awarded $350. The remaining 11 bands were awarded certificates of merit and awards of $250 each. All monetary awards go toward improving schools' jazz programs. Awards for outstanding soloists and sections were also presented (see listing below).
High School Jazz Band
Competition & Festival
2007 AWARDS
FIRST PLACE:
Roosevelt High School
SECOND PLACE:
Agoura High School Studio Jazz Band
THIRD PLACE:
Foxboro High School
HONORABLE MENTION BAND
King Philip Regional High School
OUTSTANDING SOLOISTS
On Clarinet, Tenor and Flute
Agoura High School Studio Jazz Daniel Jenklow
On Clarinet
Edmonds-Woodway High School Hannah Jones
Foxboro High School Solveig Olsen
Garfield High School Carl Majeau
River East Collegiate Samantha Chrol
On Alto Saxophone
Carroll Senior High School Devin Eddleman
Garfield High School - John Cheadle
Grandview High School Mario Bennett
Greenwich High School Ken Kaneko
Roosevelt High School Logan Strosahl
On Tenor Saxophone
Agoura High School Jazz A Christian Choh
Carroll Senior High School Brian Clancy
Garfield High School Joel Gombiner
Garfield High School Devin Mooers
On Baritone Saxophone
Carroll Senior High School Chris Milyo
King Philip Regional High School Matt Kowalski
Williamsville East High School Dominico Missana
On Trumpet
King Philip Regional High School J.D. Chaisson
Williamsville East High School Griffith Kazmierczak
On Trombone
King Philip Regional High School Chris Palmer
On Valve Trombone
Honeoye Falls-Lima High School Carter Middleton
On Tuba
Honeoye Falls-Lima High School Willie Middleton
On Piano
Agoura High School Studio Jazz Jake Higgins
Edmonds-Woodway High School Devon Yesberger
Foxboro High School Molly Kackloudis
Garfield High School - Benjamin Hamaji
Rio Americano High School Dinos San Pedro
Rio Americano High School John Rothfels
Roosevelt High School Scotty Bemis
On Bass
Agoura High School Studio Jazz Eric Lamm
Foxboro High School Daniel Kasang
River East Collegiate Graham Isaak
Williamsville East High School Danny Ziemann
On Banjo
Roosevelt High School Reed Ferris
On Drums
Mead High School Christina Tracy
OUTSTANDING SECTIONS
Reeds
Carroll Senior High School
Roosevelt High School
Brass
King Philip Regional High School
Trombones
Foxboro High School
Mead High School
Roosevelt High School
Trumpets
Roosevelt High School
Rhythm Section
Agoura High School Studio Jazz
Foxboro High School
Roosevelt High School
In addition, Jazz at Lincoln Center recognized the winner in the sixth Essentially Ellington Essay Contest. The contest invited students from all participating high schools to submit an essay describing a personal experience with Jazz. Jazz at Lincoln Center received 71 essays from which esteemed historian, author, editor, archivist, and Director of the Institute of Jazz Studies at Rutgers University DAN MORGENSTERN chose the winners. As the 1st place winner for the winning essay entitled "Taking the A Train," by Alex Dugdale, (Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA) was invited to name a seat in Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and read his essay at the opening of the festival on Friday, May 4, 2007.
For more information on the Annual Essentially Ellington Student Essay Contest visit: http://www.jalc.org/jazzED/ee/b_essay.html
· This year Jazz at Lincoln Center distributed more than 5,400 newly transcribed Ellington scores, reference recordings and additional educational materials.
· These materials were sent to more than 920 high schools in the United States, Canada and American schools in Bolivia, Brazil, France, Japan, Malaysia and Switzerland.
· 88 bands entered the competition by submitting a recording of three Ellington works.
· The entries were evaluated in a blind screening by jazz education experts RONALD CARTER, LOREN SCHOENBERG and REGINALD THOMAS.
The 15 finalists for Essentially Ellington 2007 were:
Agoura High School Studio Jazz Band, Agoura Hills, CA
Agoura High School Jazz A, Agoura Hills, CA
Rio Americano High School, Sacramento, CA
Greenwich High School, Greenwich, CT
Foxboro High School, Foxboro, MA
King Philip Regional High School, Wrentham, MA
River East Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB
Grandview High School, Grandview, MO
Honeoye Falls-Lima High School, Honeoye Falls, NY
Williamsville East High School, East Amherst, NY
Carroll Senior High School, Southlake, TX
Edmonds-Woodway High School, Edmonds, WA
Garfield High School, Seattle, WA
Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA
Mead High School, Spokane, WA
2007 COMPETITION & FESTIVAL WEEKEND
The three-day festival began on Friday, May 4th when the finalist bands arrive at Frederick P. Rose Hall for "One-On-One With Wynton Marsalis," a reading by the essay contest winner, workshops, rehearsals, a banquet dinner and jam sessions with members of the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra (JLCO). The three-part competition was in Rose Theater on Saturday, May 5th at 3pm and Sunday, May 6th at 10am and 1pm. The panel judges each band's performance of three Ellington works. At the May 6, 7:30pm Concert and Awards Ceremony in Avery Fisher Hall, the three top-placing bands performed alone and with Wynton Marsalis, followed by the JLCO performing an all-Ellington set and the culminating awards ceremony honoring outstanding soloists and sections and the three top-placing bands.
COMPETITION OVERVIEW
Each year, Jazz at Lincoln Center selects and transcribes original arrangements of six Duke Ellington compositions, which are published by Alfred Publications. The six selections for 2007, which reflect the variety of styles and forms in Ellington's body of work, are: Blue Ramble, Blue Serge, Don't Get Around Much Anymore, Jam-A-Ditty, The Mooche and Theme From The Asphalt Jungle Suite. Arrangements are distributed for a $75 or $45 membership fee to all high school jazz bands that express interest in the program by returning an application card.
Category C is for conglomerate groups, those made up of students from more than one school. There were four submissions in Category C, and the winning group receives a workshop with a clinician from Jazz at Lincoln Center. This year, Pacific Crest Community School, Portland, OR took home the Conglomerate Band Award.
Throughout March and April 2007, Jazz at Lincoln Center sent, free of charge, a professional musician to each of the 15 finalist schools to lead an intensive day-long workshop of rehearsals, lessons, and master classes. The clinicians included reed players RONALD CARTER and LOREN SCHOENBERG; bassist RODNEY WHITAKER; trombonists VINCENT GARDNER and WYCLIFFE GORDON and pianists ARTURO O'FARRILL and REGGIE THOMAS. During the Festival, each finalist band is paired with a Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra member as a mentor.
For a full schedule of Essentially Ellington, visit: http://www.jalc.org/jazzED/ee/b_timeline.html
For more information on the history of Essentially Ellington, visit: www.EssentiallyEllington.org
For the Essentially Ellington Alumni MySpace, visit: www.myspace.com/eealumni
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Major support is provided by the Surdna Foundation, The Irene Diamond Foundation,
The National Endowment for the Arts, and Alfred and Gail Engelberg
Time Warner is the lead corporate sponsor of Essentially Ellington.
Additional support is provided by The Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation, The Heckscher Foundation for Children, The Charles Evans Hughes Memorial Foundation, The New York Times Company Foundation and many other generous funders.