Agoura High, Calabasas High bands chosen as finalists for jazz competition

Agoura High School and Calabasas High School were named as two of the 15 finalists nationwide for the 11th annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival. This is the second year that Agoura High School was chosen as a finalist.

The announcement was made at the beginning of the month at the Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) in New York, NY.

The 15 high school bands will compete in New York City on May 18, 19 and 20. The top three placing bands will have the opportunity to play on the stage of Avery Fisher Hall on the Lincoln Center campus with guest soloist Wynton Marsalis, the artistic director for the JALC.

This year, more than 5,700 newly transcribed Ellington scores, reference recordings and additional educational materials were distributed to more than 900 high schools in the United States, Canada and American schools in Brazil, Japan and Switzerland. About 97 bands entered the competition by submitting a recording of three Ellington works.

The competition involved more than 200,000 students in more than 3,500 high schools in all 50 states, Canada, Australia and American schools abroad, according to the JALC website (www.jazzatlincolncenter.org).

During April and prior to the final competition in New York, JALC will send, free of charge, a professional musician to each of the 15 finalist schools to lead an intensive day-long workshop of rehearsals, lessons and master classes. The clinicians include trumpeter Terell Stafford, drummer Justin Dicioccio, pianist Arturo O'Farrill and reed players Ron Carter, Victor Goines and Loren Schoenberg.

During the festival in New York, each finalist band will be paired with a Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra member as a mentor.

Finalists will attend a "Oneon-One with Wynton Marsalis" seminar upon arrival in New York on May 18. Students will also participate in workshops, rehearsals and jam sessions with members of the Lincoln Center Jazz Orchestra, and also see a film on Duke Ellington. School music directors will also participate in workshops. A banquet dinner is planned.

According to the JALC website, the final competition will be conducted in three parts and judged by a panel of professional musicians, including Marsalis; David Baker, music director of the Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra; David Berger, composer, conductor and Ellington authority; and Gunther Schuller, author, composer and conductor. The panel will judge each band on its performance of three Ellington works.

At the May 20 concert and awards ceremony, the three topplacing bands will perform alone and with Marsalis as soloist, followed by an all-Ellington show.

Cash awards of $1,000, $750 and $500 will be presented at the final concert. The funds will be used to enhance the schools' jazz programs. Two additional bands may receive $350 honorable mention awards, a spokesperson said, and the remaining bands will receive a $250 prize. Special awards will be presented to outstanding soloists and sections.

The JALC will also grant up to $10,000 in travel stipends to assist bands with travel expenses to New York.

In addition to the musical competition, the program also included an essay contest. Students from all the participating high schools submitted entries. The essay contest winners were announced recently and can be accessed via the JALC website.

-Stephanie Bertholdo