On Saturday, March 23, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Greenwich High School will host the annual Essentially Ellington Regional Festival (sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center), that will feature 10 very talented high school jazz ensembles, as well as an exhibition performance by world class jazz musicians and clinicians who serve as the adjudicators.
Greenwich’s own bassist, Rick Petrone, will serve as emcee for this exciting day of jazz.
Every half-hour, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., a variety of jazz ensembles, representing 10 area high schools, will perform for the community, each other, and a panel of notable judges. Then, at 4:30 p.m., the judges and emcee will take the stage for an exhibition performance before they present awards to the students at 5 p.m. Refreshments will be available for purchase throughout the day....
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On Saturday, March 23, from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m., Greenwich High School will host the annual Essentially Ellington Regional Festival (sponsored by Jazz at Lincoln Center), that will feature 10 very talented high school jazz ensembles, as well as an exhibition performance by world class jazz musicians and clinicians who serve as the adjudicators.
Greenwich’s own bassist, Rick Petrone, will serve as emcee for this exciting day of jazz.
Every half-hour, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m., a variety of jazz ensembles, representing 10 area high schools, will perform for the community, each other, and a panel of notable judges. Then, at 4:30 p.m., the judges and emcee will take the stage for an exhibition performance before they present awards to the students at 5 p.m. Refreshments will be available for purchase throughout the day.
This Essential Ellington Festival, was designed as a non-competitive festival in order to offer high school jazz bands of all levels the opportunity to perform the music of Duke Ellington and other seminal big band composers, and to receive feedback from Jazz at Lincoln Center clinicians and other jazz professionals from their own communities.
Participants & Schedule
In Competition:
11:00 A.M. GHS, Greenwich Lab Band, Greenwich
11:30 A.M. Fairfield Warde HS, Fairfield
12:00 P.M. Brien McMahon HS, Norwalk
12:30 P.M. Staples HS, Westport
1:00 P.M. Lynbrook HS, Lynbrook, NY
1:30 P.M. Intermission
2:00 P.M. Joel Barlow, HS, Redding, CT
2:30 P.M. Mamaroneck, HS Mamaroneck, NY
3:00 P.M. Darien HS, Darien CT
3:30 P.M. East Catholic HS, Manchester, CT
In Exhibition
4:00 P.M. GHS Jazz Enemble, Greenwich
4:30 P.M. Judges' Exhibition
5:00 P.M. Awards for Outstanding Soloists, Outstanding Sections, and Outstanding Band Performance.
World Class Musician Adjudicators:
Justin DiCioccio, Drums: Inducted into the Jazz Education Hall of Fame, Mr. DiCioccio is internationally recognized as a leader in jazz education. He is currently Associate Dean of the jazz arts program at the Manhattan School of Music and also serves as a consultant to Jazz at Lincoln Center and Wynton Marsalis. DiCioccio designed, developed, and directed the award-winning LaGuardia High School of the Arts jazz program, the first fully accredited secondary jazz program in the United States.
John Mosca, Trombone: Mr. Mosca currently co-leads the GRAMMY award winning Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. A native New Yorker and Juilliard graduate, John Mosca has performed with Pierre Boulez and the Metropolitan Opera, as well as Dizzy Gillespie, Sarah Vaughn, and Stan Getz. John has been actively involved in jazz education for over 25 years, having served on the faculties at New York University, New England Conservatory, Manhattan School of Music, and as Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Connecticut. He currently teaches trombone and ensembles at William Paterson University.
Terell Stafford, Trumpet: Currently, Mr. Stafford is a member of the GRAMMY award- winning Vanguard Jazz Orchestra. He has also performed with Benny Golson’s Sextet, McCoy Tyner’s Sextet, the Kenny Barron Sextet, the Jimmy Heath Big Band, and the Jon Faddis Orchestra, among others.
Julius Tolentino, Saxophone: in the New York jazz scene for more than 15 years, Mr. Tolentino has played with numerous small groups and big bands including Louis Haye’s Cannonball Adderley Legacy Band and Quartet, Eric Reed’s Sextet, Jeremy Pelt’s Quintet, the Illinois Jacquet Big Band and the Count Basie and Duke Ellington Orchestra’s. As current Jazz Director at Newark Academy his accomplishments as an educator included First Place at the NJAJE State Finals three years running 2010-2012. More recently, Mr. Tolentino has been awarded the 2013 Illinois Jacquet Jazz Educator of the Year award courtesy of the Illinois Jacquet Foundation in Scottsdale, Arizona.
Emcee: Rick Petrone, Bass: resides in Greenwich, Connecticut. He holds a Bachelor of Music Education degree from Berklee College of Music. As a performer, Rick was a featured soloist with Maynard Ferguson's Big Band and can be heard on "Chameleon," "Live at Jimmy's," and on the DVD “At The Top.” Rick has also performed with Mel Torme, Lena Horne, Thad & Mel Orchestra, Houston Person & Etta Jones, Richie Cole, John Scofield, Larry Willis, Roy Hargrove, Roberta Gambarini, Giacomo Gates and Don Friedman.
What is the Essentially Ellington High School Program?
Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) created the Essentially Ellington program (EE) in 1995 to make Ellington's music accessible to as many high school musicians as possible and to support the development of their schools' music programs. In 2006, Jazz at Lincoln Center piloted its first EE High School Jazz Band Regional Festivals.
These non-competitive, education-focused festivals were designed to offer high school jazz bands of all levels the opportunity to perform the music of Duke Ellington and other seminal big band composers and arrangers. Participating bands receive professional feedback from JALC clinicians and other jazz professionals in their own backyard.
While the music of Duke Ellington will always be central to EE, the program now explores other important big band arrangers and composers as well—one each year. Featured artists have included Benny Carter, Mary Lou Williams, Count Basie and Dizzy Gillespie.
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