Central High School’s jazz band, directed by Ollie Liddell, has been named one of the top 30 high school bands in the nation and selected to compete in the 30th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival, hosted by Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
This marks a significant achievement for students and the local community and celebrates their dedication to musical excellence.
The competition, scheduled for May 7-11, 2025, in New York City, will feature workshops, jam sessions, and performances that culminate in the final concert at the Metropolitan Opera House. This year’s event is particularly noteworthy as Jazz at Lincoln Center for the first time expands the Essentially Ellington program internationally, and has doubled the number of finalist bands from 15 to 30 in celebration of its 30th anniversary.
The Essentially Ellington program has long been a cornerstone of jazz education, providing thousands of schools worldwide with free Duke Ellington music transcriptions, rehearsal guides, and expert resources.
I’ve watched this program expand and evolve over the years and am deeply proud of how Essentially Ellington has changed the landscape of jazz education,” said Todd Stoll, vice president of education at Jazz at Lincoln Center. “In a culture always looking ahead to the next best thing, we celebrate the music of Duke Ellington and how it speaks across generations and barriers to bring us together in a way that is both profound and relevant. Congratulations to the directors, parents, and communities that support these students in their efforts to master this music.”
In honor of the milestone anniversary, the organization also announced plans to expand the unique high school arts education program which has impacted thousands of students, band directors, and the worldwide Essentially Ellington community throughout its 30-year history. A three-day competition in years past, the 2025 Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival will take place over five days to include two rounds of competition.
“In the first years of Essentially Ellington, we at Jazz at Lincoln Center were insisting on the integrity of the playing,” said Wynton Marsalis, managing and artistic director at Jazz at Lincoln Center. “Since then, so many great musicians have come through the program, and many of them have had a profound impact on the scene. I’ve also been impacted by the students and the interactions I’ve had with them over these 30 years. The music of Duke Ellington is certainly the highest level of what has come out of the United States of America.”
The 2025 Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Finalists are:
William H. Hall High School (West Hartford, Connecticut) | Directed by Phil Giampietro
Youth Jazz Ensemble of DuPage (Wheaton, Illinois) | Directed by Robert Blazek
Bothell High School (Bothell, Washington) | Directed by Philip Dean
Byron Center High School (Byron Center, Michigan) | Directed by Marc Townley
Carroll Senior High School (Southlake, Texas) | Directed by David Lown
Alexander W. Dreyfoos School of the Arts (West Palm Beach, Florida) | Directed by Christopher M. De León
King Philip Regional High School (Wrentham, Massachusetts) | Directed by Michael Keough
Agoura High School (Agoura Hills, California) | Directed by Robert Hackett
Jazz House Kids (Montclair, New Jersey) | Directed by Nathan Eklund
Osceola County School for the Arts (Kissimmee, Florida) | Directed by Jason Anderson
Rio Americano High School (Sacramento, California) | Directed by Josh Murray
Sun Prairie High School (Sun Prairie, Wisconsin) | Directed by Matt McVeigh
Susan E. Wagner High School (Staten Island, New York) | Directed by Paul Corn
Newton South High School (Newton, Massachusetts) | Directed by Lisa Linde
Memphis Central High School (Memphis, Tennessee) | Directed by Ollie Liddell
Plano West Senior High School (Plano, Texas) | Directed by Preston Pierce
Stanford Jazz Workshop (Stanford, California) | Directed by Michael Galisatus
Hoover High School (Hoover, Alabama) | Directed by Sallie White
New World School of the Arts (Miami, Florida) | Directed by Jim Gasior
Mountlake Terrace High School (Mountlake Terrace, Washington) | Directed by Darin Faul
Garfield High School (Seattle, Washington) | Directed by Jared Sessink
Newark Academy (Livingston, New Jersey) | Directed by Julius Tolentino
Tucson Jazz Institute (Tucson, Arizona) | Directed by Brice Winston
Roosevelt High School (Seattle, Washington) | Directed by Hannah Mowry
Orange County School of the Arts (Santa Ana, California) | Directed by John Reynolds
Celia Cruz Bronx High School of Music (Bronx, New York) | Directed by Penelope Smetters-Jacono
Ann Arbor Huron High School (Ann Arbor, Michigan) | Directed by Robert Ash
Blackburn High School (Victoria, Australia) | Directed by Andrew O’Connell
Tomisato High School (Chiba, Japan) | Directed by Masaki Shinohara
Sant Andreu Jazz Band (Barcelona, Spain) | Directed by Joan Chamorro
Finalists were selected from 127 schools—a record number—that submitted recordings of select tunes from Jazz at Lincoln Center’s R. Theodore Ammon Archives and Music Library.
The annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival brings musicians from across North America to Jazz at Lincoln Center to spend several days immersed in workshops, jam sessions, rehearsals, and performances. The top-placing bands will be chosen by several judging panels comprising distinguished jazz musicians and historians, including Joseph Jefferson, Ingrid Jensen, Sherrie Maricle, Branford Marsalis, Wynton Marsalis, Ulysses Owens, Catherine Russell, Reggie Thomas, Camille Thurman, Liesel Whitaker, and others to be announced.
The Essentially Ellington program and resources for students and band directors are free of charge and aim to elevate musicianship, broaden perspectives, and inspire performance through the music of jazz icon Duke Ellington.
The program aims to promote appreciation for jazz music and American vernacular music and has served as a major talent incubator for many alumni who have gone on to form a new generation of professional musicians, band directors, and industry figures including Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra musicians Obed Calvaire, Carlos Henriquez, Alexa Tarantino, Grammy award winner Samara Joy, Saturday Night Live band member Summer Camargo, and renowned musicians Aaron Diehl, Tatum Greenblatt, Chris Lewis, Riley Mulherkar, Philip Norris, among many more.
Essentially Ellington Festival events, including the final concert featuring the top-placing bands and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, will stream live on jazzlive.com. To learn more about Jazz at Lincoln Center, visit jazz.org/ee.