Livingston Students Earn Spot In Prestigious Jazz Competition

LIVINGSTON, NJ — A group of student musicians from Newark Academy in Livingston have been chosen to compete in the 24th Annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival.

According to a news release from sponsoring organization Jazz at Lincoln Center, the students have earned a berth at one of the nation’s premiere jazz education events, which will take place in New York City from May 9 to 11 this year.

The festival aims to bring students from diverse backgrounds together with the power of music.

Newark Academy was selected from a competitive pool of 112 jazz bands across the country after submitting recordings of three tunes performed from the Jazz at Lincoln Center library. Students will get the chance to attend workshops, sit in on jam sessions and conclude the weekend with a concert and awards ceremony featuring the top three bands… alongside the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra with Wynton Marsalis.

Festival events, including the final concert featuring the three top-placing bands and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, will be webcast live on jazz.org/live.

“In these divisive times, it’s important to teach and celebrate our most scared values: freedom of speech, empathetic listening, and constructive engagement with others,” said Marsalis, managing and artistic director of Jazz at Lincoln Center.

“These kids have a lot to teach us,” Marsalis said. “I’m looking forward to hearing them play, and to being instructed and inspired by them.”

The full list of 2019 Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Finalists includes:

• Beloit Memorial High School (Beloit, WI)
• Denver School of the Arts (Denver, CO)
• Dillard Center of Arts (Fort Lauderdale, Florida)
• Foxboro High School (Foxborough, MA)
• Garfield High School (Seattle, WA)
• Middleton High School (Middleton, Wi)
• Mount Si High School (Snoqualmie, WA)
• Newark Academy (Livingston, NJ)
• Rio Americano High School (Sacramento, CA)
• Roosevelt High School (Seattle, WA)
• San Diego School of Creative and Performing Arts (San Diego, CA)
• Sun Prairie High School (Sun Prairie, WI)
• Tarpon Springs High School (Tarpon Springs, FL)
• Philharmonic Association (Raleigh, NC)
• William H. Hall High School (West Hartford, CT)

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Photos courtesy of Jazz at Lincoln Center