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A Canadian first
UTS welcomes secondary school jazz ensembles to an extraordinary day of performance, learning and connection.
University of Toronto Schools is pleased to partner with Jazz at Lincoln Center to present the internationally recognized Essentially Ellington Regional High School Jazz Band Festival on February 20, 2027.
UTS is honoured to be the first Canadian host in the festival’s 30-year history. This non-competitive event offers intermediate- and advanced-level secondary school jazz ensembles an exceptional opportunity to perform selections from the big band repertoire. Ensembles will receive professional, constructive feedback from internationally recognized jazz artists based in Toronto and musicians visiting from Jazz at Lincoln Center in New York City.
Each band will perform three or four contrasting selections, including at least one work from the Essentially Ellington library. Ensembles will then participate in a workshop and receive oral and written feedback from adjudicators.
Musicians will also take part in instrument-specific workshops alongside students from other schools and attend professional-level performances by the adjudicators and faculty.
This one-day festival is part of the educational initiatives of Jazz at Lincoln Center, a constituent organization of Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. Each year, Jazz at Lincoln Center presents its flagship Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival in New York City, together with more than 20 regional festivals across the United States and, for the first time, Canada.
FOR QUESTIONS, PLEASE REACH US AT: Essentially.Ellington@
Jeff McLeod
Coordinator of Essentially Ellington Jazz Festival at UTS
Lyris Pat
Director of Music, University of Toronto Schools
