Ninth Annual Essentially Ellington Finalists Announced

New York, NY, March 4, 2004 Today, Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) announced the 15 finalist bands for its prestigious Ninth Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival. These bands will compete for over $11,000 in cash awards at the competition finals, produced by JALC, in New York City on May 22, 23 & 24, 2004. This year, a total number of 6,840 newly-transcribed Ellington scores and educational materials were sent to 1,140 high school jazz bands in all 50 states, across Canada and to American schools in Brazil and Switzerland. Of these high school jazz bands, 102 entered the competition by submitting a recording of three Ellington songs. In its nine-year history, this unique music education program has reached over 3,500 high schools across all 50 U.S. states, U.S. territories, Canada, Australia and American schools abroad. To date, over 200,000 students have performed Duke Ellington's music through the Essentially Ellington program.

The 15 finalists for Essentially Ellington 2004 are:

Agoura High School, Agoura Hills, CA
Denver School of the Arts, Denver, CO
Douglas Anderson School of the Arts, Jacksonville, FL
New World School of the Arts, Miami, FL
The Lovett School, Atlanta, GA
St. Charles North High School, Saint Charles, IL
River East Collegiate, Winnipeg, MB, Canada
Foxboro High School, Foxboro, MA
Honeoye Falls - Lima High School, Honeoye Falls, NY
Westerville South High School, Westerville, OH
Temple High School, Temple, TX
Garfield High School, Seattle, WA
Roosevelt High School, Seattle, WA
Mead High School, Spokane, WA
Sun Prairie High School, Sun Prairie, WI

Winner of Conglomerate Band Workshop: Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra, Rochester, NY

“Instruments are being oiled and tuned up, reeds are being shaved, bass lines are being walked, scores are being studied, and countless hours are being spent preparing the most swinging music ever written—it is time for Essentially Ellington ," said JALC Artistic Director Wynton Marsalis.

“Over the last nine years, we've had the pleasure to witness extraordinary growth in the number of high school bands playing Ellington's music for state competitions, concerts, dances, and band fundraising events," said Laura Johnson, Vice President, Education. “That's in large part due to the enthusiastic participation of directors in Essentially Ellington ."

2004 COMPETITION & FESTIVAL WEEKEND
The three-day festival will begin on Saturday, May 22 when the finalist bands arrive for “One-On-One With Wynton Marsalis," workshops, rehearsals, a banquet dinner, and jam sessions with members of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra (LCJO). Also included in the weekend activities is a film program on Duke Ellington and a workshop for non-finalist band directors. In the two-part competition on Sunday, May 23 at 4pm and Monday, May 24 at 10:30am in Avery Fisher Hall, a panel of judges