CCM competes in Jazz at Lincoln Center's Jack Rudin Jazz Championship

UC College-Conservatory of Music's Jazz Orchestra received accolades for its performances during the Jazz at Lincoln Center's (JALC) second annual Jack Rudin Jazz Championship on April 19-20, 2022. The invitational competition featured ensembles from 10 of "the most well-regarded university jazz programs in the country."

Prize winners and honorable mentions were announced shortly after the Championship and shared by JazzTimes magazine. 

CCM Jazz students and faculty traveled to JALC in New York to participate in the competition. Competitors performed on the Rose Theater stage at Frederick P. Rose Hall, home of Jazz at Lincoln Center, located on Broadway at 60th Street, New York, New York. The event also included a combo showcase on April 19 and a final concert featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra on April 20. Performances were available to watch online through the JALC's livestream.

The CCM Jazz Orchestra opened the first part of the competition and were also invited to compete in the finals. The ensemble received numerous awards and honorable mentions, including outstanding trombone section, an honorable mention for the trumpet section, an honorable mention for student Chris Caporale, piano; honorable mentions for students Brent Proseus and Myles Twitty, trumpet and outstanding trumpet for student Charlie Merk. The 2022 competition was judged by a panel of leading jazz performers, composers and educators: Randy Brecker, Jeff Hamilton, Carlos Henriquez, Ayn Inserto, and Wynton Marsalis.

Named for Jack Rudin, founding supporter of JALC's signature Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival, this event celebrates the excellence and achievements of the next generation of jazz musicians. Ensembles competing in the 2022 Jack Rudin Jazz Championship hail from the following colleges and universities: 

• Brigham Young University (Provo, UT)
• California State University, Fullerton (Fullerton, CA)
• Indiana University Jacobs School of Music (Bloomington, IN)
• Michigan State University College of Music (East Lansing, MI)
• North Carolina Central University (Durham, NC)
• Temple University (Philadelphia, PA)
• University of Kansas (Lawrence, KS)
• University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music (Cincinnati, OH)
• University of Nevada, Las Vegas (Las Vegas, NV)
• University of North Carolina Greensboro (Greensboro, NC)

CCM Jazz has close connections with the JALC. In 2019, CCM became the inaugural College Affiliate of the JALC and was invivted on an international residency with Wynton Marsalis and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra. Students and faculty traveled to São Paulo, Brazil in June 2019 to perform and participate in educational events and workshops. CCM Jazz also hosts an annual Essentially Ellington Festival in the spring, which features the region's top high school jazz ensembles, and the festival's gala concert features a guest artist from JALC. Watch the CCMONSTAGE Online Essentially Ellington Gala Concert from 2021.

The Jack Rudin Jazz Championship honors the legacy of Jack Rudin, longtime supporter of Jazz at Lincoln Center, and his founding support for Essentially Ellington, the organization’s signature transformative education program. Launched in 2020, right before the pandemic, the Jack Rudin Jazz Championship provides participating ensembles with quality literature and a forum for celebrating excellence and achievement, while introducing higher education to Jazz at Lincoln Center’s education methodology and philosophy — extending JALC’s educational mission into the sphere of professional development for the next generation of leading jazz artists.

Marsalis says of the competition’s namesake, “Jack Rudin loved the music and believed in education. He believed in equal education for everyone and continued to support his high school, both financially and personally, for years after he had graduated. He was the first supporter for our Essentially Ellington Competition & Festival which is now in its 27th year, and we are proud to continue to honor him through this collegiate competition.”

Marsalis continues, “It’s an honor and privilege to welcome the finest collegiate students and educators from around the country to the House of Swing. Through workshops, performances, and collegial competition, the experience will exemplify the fellowship and community that is the hallmark of jazz. In these divided times, our arts exist to call us home to our greatest historic achievements and our highest aspirations.”

Jazz at Lincoln Center Vice President of Education, Todd Stoll (MM Trumpet, 1991), says, “These 10 bands represent the highest level of achievement in our music by young people.”

A longtime supporter of Jazz at Lincoln Center, Jack Rudin and his beloved wife Susan have been steadfast in their commitment to jazz and Jazz at Lincoln Center's mission. The Rudins understood very early on the value and importance of educating youth about this important American art form — jazz. Jack was all about education for young people, particularly those who were disadvantaged. In 2012, the Rudins generously endowed Jazz at Lincoln Center’s national Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Program, the first of our programs to be endowed.

Jazz at Lincoln Center serves the largest jazz education program network in the world, and its initiatives are based on the organization’s 34-year history of education in jazz performance and appreciation. Goals of each program are for students to gain insight into American vernacular music and jazz, learn the communal history of jazz in a sociopolitical context, receive guidance on how to better communicate personal objectives, and gain awareness of the mission of jazz musicians today building on the aspirations laid by earlier generations.

Offering both bachelor and master of music degrees, the Jazz Studies program at CCM teaches the fundamentals of classical music, stylistic elements of each historical jazz period, strategies for enhancing originality, techniques of electronic media and today’s cutting-edge trends that defy categorization.

By receiving a wide musical perspective and the command of a broad jazz language, the student is equipped to pursue a future in jazz music. At the same time, this thorough course of study serves as the best preparation for related careers in commercial music. Learn more at ccm.uc.edu/jazz.

Featured image at the top: CCM Jazz Orchestra on stage during the Jazz Rudin Jazz Championship. Screenshot taken from JALC livestream.