Jazz at Lincoln Center has announced the launch of its inaugural Jack Rudin Jazz Championship, a two-day invitational competition featuring ensembles from 10 university jazz programs in the United States. It will take place Jan. 18-19 at Frederick P. Rose Hall in Manhattan.
The competition is named after one of JALC’s most generous supporters, a real estate developer who endowed the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition and Festival. Rudin died in 2016.
“Jack Rudin loved the music and believed in education,” JALC artistic director Wynton Marsalis said in a press release announcing the competition. “He believed in equal education for everyone and continued to support his high school, both financially and personally, for years after he had graduated.”
The colleges and universities that will compete in the Jack Rudin Jazz Championship are: California State University, Northridge; University of Northern Colorado; University of North Texas; Indiana University; Michigan State University; Eastman School of Music; North Carolina Central University; Temple University; Juilliard School of Music; and Manhattan School of Music.
The competition will feature workshops and performances, including a final concert featuring the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra.
“It is my dream that the two days of workshops, performances, and collegial competition will afford these students the opportunity to meet and interact with the finest students, educators, and professionals from around the world,” Marsalis said in the release. “We believe this experience will exemplify the type of fellowship and community that is the hallmark of jazz.”
