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EE has been supported and sustained over the years through the support of our generous donors and board members. Read their personal “EE Stories” below.
Year(s) with EE/JALC 1995–present
Occupation
Managing Director, Peter J. Solomon Company—New York, NY
Vice Chairman, Board of Directors—Jazz at Lincoln Center
How are you involved with EE?
I was instrumental in targeting a very generous gift given by my friend, Jack Rudin, to initiate this program in 1995. At that time, Jazz at Lincoln Center was not an independent constituent yet—it was a department of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Jack’s wife Susan was an enthusiastic and devoted board member of Lincoln Center Institute, so he challenged me to come up with a proposal benefitting both Jazz at Lincoln Center and the Lincoln Center Institute. I loved the concept of the program, which was Wynton’s idea. Wynton always wanted to have a high school jazz band competition to engage younger people in the music and to grow the audience for jazz. The Essentially Ellington competition was the perfect opportunity for Jazz at Lincoln Center, because I thought Jack would really like the idea, and he loved it! Jack became a founding sponsor, if you will, of the entire competition and he and Susan have been ardent and stalwart supporters ever since.
What is your best EE memory?
What I absolutely love the most and brings tears to my eyes is the final competition where the three top high school bands play with Wynton and compete with each other. There is such enormous support from each of the schools for the other schools. It is very, very touching. It’s as if all the students are banded together for one purpose and that purpose is to play this fabulous music and to share it with each other, and then share the recognition they’re all getting by coming to New York and competing here in our wonderful city. It’s a wonderful treat for these kids. Their parents come, their classmates and their teachers come, too. I love that night. I think it’s really all about the spirit of the high school musicians who compete. I love their spirit of sharing, their excitement and recognition of each other.
How has EE influenced your life?
It has made me believe that there really are infinite possibilities in life. We have, for example, a bassist in the Jazz at Lincoln Center orchestra who came out of the Essentially Ellington program. He was at LaGuardia High School when we saw and heard him play at first and he’s been part of the orchestra for several years now. He’s married and has children! And he’s a young guy still in his twenties. And so that’s a huge satisfaction for me.
Wynton, too, is extraordinary in his own right in so many different ways, but particularly impressive is how he discovers, recognizes and nurtures young talent. He seeks it and then nurtures it, and he has done that with so many of our young orchestra members. It’s really very heartwarming. It’s wonderful. It makes me believe in humanity.
Why do you continue to support this program?
For all the opportunities it’s provided to young people, which I think are just incredible. It just makes me want to continue to raise money for the program and keep it flourishing. It’s my favorite program of all the programs we do at Jazz at Lincoln Center, and we have a lot of programs. It’s an enormous, different and unique education for the all the musicians who participate.
Year(s) involved with EE 2000–present
Occupation
Trustee, The Engelberg Foundation, New York, NY
Board of Directors, Jazz at Lincoln Center
How are you involved with EE?
I have long been an avid supporter of arts and education. And, I was always impressed with Wynton’s mentoring of young people in so many different ways. When I became aware of what Wynton was accomplishing with Essentially Ellington, I started supporting the program—this was prior to joining the board of Jazz at Lincoln Center. I have always known the arts are a critical portal for learning; music is particularly important, and we know that jazz teaches us many, many things.
What is your best EE memory?
What is so surprising and amazing to me is how blown away my many guests have been who have attended the festivals with me, particularly on that final day and during the awards presentation. They are amazed by the ability, talent and presence of these young people, both as individuals and in their collective groups as band members.
Why do you continue to support this program?
I have been engaged in the arts for most of my life in some way, shape or form, so I know how important it is to create the access for the best and the brightest, and for those who WANT to be the best and the brightest. Jazz is one of the portals to learning and for excellence and for living everyday life. Jazz teaches communication; it teaches people how to listen. In jazz, you cannot perform without respecting and appreciating both the individual and the collective. That is a very tangible piece that’s on display in Essentially Ellington. We continue to lift the spirits and create community through jazz and the art of swing. I’d be remiss not to mention swing because...we swing! We have many budding cultural ambassadors of whom we can all be proud and appreciative.
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