WHAT IS ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON?
Launched in 1995, Essentially Ellington is a free program for high school jazz bands that aims to elevate musicianship, broaden perspectives, and inspire performance. EE provides high school and college band directors with resources for the study and performance of big band music. Any high school or college-aged jazz ensemble can join the EE network by registering in our EE Members Only portal, free of charge. Upon doing so, the ensemble remains a member going forward.
Membership benefits for high school and college aged jazz bands include:
FREE printed or instant downloads of 10 big band charts
FREE rehearsal guides for band leaders
Professional feedback of student performances of the charts along with much more!
ABOUT ESSENTIALLY ELLINGTON DOWN UNDER
Essentially Ellington Down Under is a high school jazz band festival and professional development workshop series for high school music students and teachers delivered by Jazz Music Institute (JMI) based in Brisbane and Jazz at Lincoln Center (JALC) based in New York City.
This program has reached over 5,000 Australian high school students and nearly 700 teachers throughout Australia since 2014.
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The Essentially Ellington Down Under Festival is a non-competitive performance festival for high school jazz bands in Australia that is focused on education.
The objective of the festival is to ensure that every participating jazz band leaves the festival a better band with more knowledge and inspiration to perform the great American art form of jazz music.
In 2025, festivals will be held in Brisbane and Melbourne. The festivals offer high school jazz bands a performance and learning opportunity like no other. Jazz at Lincoln Center clinicians travel from the US to adjudicate and workshop Australian high school bands, providing an experience that is priceless for both students and teachers.
To enter the festival, you need to be a member of Essentially Ellington.
As a participant of the festival, each group will:
be required to perform three (3) charts in total
be adjudicated by a Jazz at Lincoln Center clinician
receive a 45-min workshop with their adjudicator immediately after their performance
receive a recording of their performance with audio comments made by the Jazz at Lincoln Center adjudicator
Click HERE to access charts from the 2024/25 Essentially Ellington Season
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The Essentially Ellington Teacher Workshop is a FULL DAY professional development workshop with the two Jazz at Lincoln Center representatives.
The workshops are open to anyone and is not restricted to directors performing in the festival. The workshop is perfect for anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of jazz music and techniques for how to teach jazz to young people.
The Essentially Ellington Teacher Workshop is an excellent professional development opportunity to hear, engage and interact with two internationally renowned performers and educators.
There will be sessions in this workshop where the Jazz at Lincoln Center representatives will work directly with high school students, working through rehearsal techniques and giving attendees first-hand experiences of the techniques used to improve ensemble blending and dynamics, articulation and stylistic approaches.
Topics that are covered in the workshop include:
A cultural approach to teaching jazz
Developing improvisation skills
Selecting big band repertoire & interpreting Ellington
Rehearsal techniques for big band
Developing your rhythm section
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Melbourne
11th August 2025 - Big Band Festival at Blackburn High School
12th August 2025 - Teacher Professional Development Workshop at Blackburn High School - 10am to 4pm
Brisbane
15th August 2025 - Teacher Professional Development Workshop at JMI Live - 10am to 4pm
18th August 2025 - Big Band Festival at Marist College Ashgrove
Fees
Big Band Registration = $600
Teacher Workshop = $200
Band Registration + Teacher Workshop = $750
4+ Teacher Workshop = $150 each
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Registrations for the Essentially Ellington Down Under Festival 2025 have now closed.
To register your attendance to the Essentially Ellington Teacher Workshop, please complete the teacher registration form.
past clinicians
vincent gardner
Lead Trombonist, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Essentially Ellington Down Under Teachers Conference 2014-2015
Essentially Ellington Down Under Festival 2016-2023
jerome jennings
Drummer, Lecturer, Jazz at Lincoln Center Swing University
Essentially Ellington Down Under Festival 2017-2022
reggie thomas
Pianist, Head of Jazz Studies, Northern Illinois University
Essentially Ellington Down Under Teachers Conference 2014-2015
Essentially Ellington Down Under Festival 2016
nicole glover
Tenor Saxophonist, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Essentially Ellington Down Under Festival 2023
sherman irby
Lead Alto Saxophonist, Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra
Essentially Ellington Down Under Festival 2023
testimonials
“The Essentially Ellington Regional Festival is the hippest event on our yearly calendar. Getting feedback from musicians who my students know are such heavy cats in the jazz industry gets my students incredibly motivated and inspired… Overall this is a slammin’ festival and you guys are awesome!”
Eric Dunan,
Musical Director at Woollongong Conservatorium
“We really enjoyed the EE Festival Down Under in Melbourne. Vince and Jerome are great! Please pass on to the powers that be that it really is a highlight, not only for our kids but directors as well, to be able to access such knowledge directly. The weekend was delivered with warmth, passion and humility. Great to be a part of.”
Bernard Hickey,
Musical Director at Killester College (Melbourne)
“The Essentially Ellington Teacher Workshop is a must see event for anyone interested in teaching the jazz tradition. Hearing about the history of jazz and the context of its origins re-ignited my passion for the genre, and motivated me to pass that information on to my students. The workshop also taught specific hands-on techniques and exercises to help beginning students get involved in the music and improvisation. I would highly recommend this workshops to teachers involved in primary or secondary school jazz ensembles.”
Maddy Shearer,
Teacher at AIM (Sydney)
“This was the first year that we have participated in Essentially Ellington. It was unlike any other festival we have in Sydney. The atmosphere was non-competitive, relaxed, and totally focused on education. It was wonderful to come away not having had to compete for a place in an atmosphere focused on destinations. Instead, the students came away a far better band than when they went in, and with a much better understanding of the journey of learning and music-making they are on. The only thing they’d like to change would be to do this more often, and spend more time with the clinician.”
Matthew Manchester,
Fort Street High School (Sydney)