The 2023 Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival will be held May 11-13, 2023.

For application and guideline information, please click HERE. Applications and recordings are due . To view the rubric from which the judges will be scoring submissions, click HERE.

To complete an application and submit a chart and recording, please click HERE and select “Competition and Festival” from the drop-down menu on the left.

The annual Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival is one of the most innovative jazz education events in the world. Each year, high school musicians from across North America travel to New York City to spend three days immersed in workshops, jam sessions, rehearsals and performances at the “House of Swing,” Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center.