Charles Mingus Festival & High School Competition: February 18 - 19, 2023
The 15th annual event celebrates the musical genius of a jazz legend
Showcases dozens of talented high school students from across the United States

NEW YORK, NY, January 6, 2023
From Saturday, February 18th, to Sunday, February 19, 2023, high school students from across the United States will celebrate the music of the great jazz bassist and composer Charles Mingus (1922-1979) as part of the 15th Annual Charles Mingus Festival & High School Competition taking place at The New School of Jazz in New York City.

The event is organized and presented by Dr. Keller Coker and The New School of Jazz, and by Let My Children Hear Music/The Charles Mingus Institute.

In categories for both big bands and combos, twelve finalist ensembles will be featured in this year’s festival. Entrants come from all over the country including California, Massachusetts, New York, New Jersey, and Texas.

“Charles Mingus music contains multitudes,” said Sue Mingus, who formed the first Mingus repertory group, the Mingus Dynasty, in 1979, and oversaw the performance and publishing of Mingus music until her retirement. The organization is now run by her son, Roberto Ungaro, and the team of musicians and creatives she mentored in her lifetime.

Mingus’s compositions – which, along with his scores, correspondence, original manuscripts, and more, were acquired by the Library of Congress in 1993 – are kept alive today on stages around the world and are frequently heard on screens big and small: in films by directors such as Spike Lee and Martin Scorsese and in television programs such as Empire, and Orange is the New Black and Law & Order. His compositions have been covered by many artists including Joni Mitchell, Elvis Costello, Keith Richards, and Henry Rollins. 

On Saturday, February 18th students will explore aspects of Mingus’s music in instrumental clinics, workshops, lectures, and films at The New School of Jazz’s Arnhold Hall at 55 West 13th Street. All events are open to the public for any students who applied to the festival. The day will conclude with Mingus jam sessions for finalist high school students. 

On Sunday, February 19th, the general public may attend the Mingus Competition: a full day of concert performances by small groups and large, in Tishman Auditorium at 63 Fifth Avenue. That evening, outstanding soloists from the Competition will be invited to sit in with the Mingus Big Band.

“The festival gives outstanding students around the country a chance to perform on their level and enriches their school programs,” says co-founder Justin DiCioccio. “It’s great for students to be challenged by this music and to form networks with other outstanding jazz musicians. For the serious student, these are going to be their peers for the rest of their lives.”

For press inquiries: education@charlesmingus.org

FESTIVAL AND COMPETITION HIGHLIGHTS

SATURDAY, FEB 18

FULL DAY OF CLINICS, MASTER CLASSES, AND JAMS at The New School of Jazz, Arnhold Hall. 55 W 13th St, New York, NY 10011
Free admission & open to the public. 

Performance of Mingus Big Band TBA

SUNDAY, FEB 19

Mingus High School COMPETITION at Tishman Auditorium. 63 5th Ave, New York, NY 10003

Free admission & open to the public. 

Performance of Mingus Big Band TBA

FINALISTS OF THE CHARLES MINGUS HIGH SCHOOL COMPETITION & FESTIVAL

BIG BAND CATEGORY
Newton South High School Jazz Ensemble, Newton, MA. Band Director: Lisa Linde
Paschal Jazz Ensemble I, Fort Worth, TX. Band Director: Matt Sawyer
Newark Academy “Chameleon,” Livingston, NJ. Band Director: Julius Tolentino 

COMBO CATEGORY
Farmer, Schwartzman, Towse Trio, New York, NY. Directed by: Ruby Farmer, William Schwartzman, Spencer Towse
Newton South High School Combo, Newton, MA. Band Director: Emiel DeJaegher
Newark Academy Jazz Combo, Livingston, NJ. Band Director: Julius Tolentino 

BIG BAND CATEGORY- Specialized Schools and Programs
Jazz House Big Band, Montclair, NJ. Band Director: Nathan Eklund
SFJAZZ High School All Stars Big Band, San Francisco, CA. Band Director: Paul Contos
Jazz at Lincoln Center Youth Orchestra, New York, NY. Band Directors: Tatum Greenblatt 

COMBO CATEGORY - Specialized Schools and Program
SFJAZZ High School All Stars Combo, San Francisco, CA. Band Director: Paul Contos
Jazz House Ambassadors Combo, Montclair, NJ. Band Director: Mike Lee
Jazz at Lincoln Center “The Jazz Collective” Combo, New York, NY. Band Director: Willerm Delisfort

RUNNERS-UP

BIG BAND CATEGORY

The Rivers Honors Big Band, Weston, MA. Band Director: Philippe Crettien 
Lexington High School Jazz Ensemble, Lexington, MA. Band Director: Pat Donaher

COMBO CATEGORY

Rio Americano High School “Everything We Do Is Mingus,” Sacramento, CA. Band Director: Josh Murray
Lexington High School Jazz Combo, Lexington, MA. Band Director: Pat Donaher

ABOUT THE MINGUS BIG BAND

The Mingus Big Band celebrates the music of composer/bassist Charles Mingus who celebrated his Centennial year in 2022. Under the artistic direction of Sue Mingus, and building off the Mingus Dynasty septet that she formed after Mingus’ death in 1979, this 14-piece band features new arrangements of Mingus compositions in a larger band format that Mingus was not always able to organize in his lifetime. The dynamic structure encourages deep explorations and ever-evolving ideations of Mingus Music and provides a platform for individual artistic expression.

Drawing from a rotation of the best established and rising musicians, the Mingus Big Band is highly sought-after by festivals and prestigious venues around the world. The band has eleven recordings to its credit, six nominated for Grammys, and one win in 2011 with Live at Jazz Standard. A new album, The Charles Mingus Centennial Sessions, was released in October 2022.

The band has held down a weekly residency in New York City for three decades, beginning in 1991 Thursday nights at Fez under Time Cafe, then Joe’s Pub, City Hall, Iridium, and landing finally at Jazz Standard. Alternating with the Mingus Orchestra and Mingus Dynasty, Mingus Mondays at Jazz Standard had become a NYC institution until its pandemic loss, and the band now continues this celebrated weekly residency at Midnight Theatre.

ABOUT “LET MY CHILDREN HEAR MUSIC” (THE CHARLES MINGUS INSTITUTE):

LET MY CHILDREN HEAR MUSIC is a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization created in1986 to promote the compositional legacy of musician and composer Charles Mingus through publishing, education, archival preservation, and performance. 

Charles Mingus is recognized as a major 20th century composer, whose works have been acquired by the Library of Congress – a first for jazz, and a first for an African-American composer. Mingus left behind the largest legacy of composition in American music after Duke Ellington. The Mingus Bands remain devoted to this vast repertoire, and true to the artistic vision of 2023 A.B. Spellman NEA Jazz Master Sue Mingus, plays to great critical acclaim around the world. Several grants from the NEA and others have supported touring and archival activities including the arrangement and production of Charles Mingus’ Epitaph.

For more information, please visit CharlesMingus.org

ABOUT THE NEW SCHOOL OF JAZZ

The School of Jazz and Contemporary Music is renowned across the globe as a center for progressive, innovative artists. Considered the most innovative school of its kind, it offers students an artist-as-mentor approach to learning. The world’s leading contemporary and jazz musicians, like Matt Wilson, Mary Halvorson, Linda May Han Oh, Jane Ira Bloom, and more, work with students one-on-one to hone their craft and create groundbreaking music.

This is a rare place where students can pursue what makes you a unique contemporary musician. We encourage students to explore their own talents and reach across disciplines to construct new rhythms, inventive compositions, and original means of expression. There are nearly 80 ensembles students can play in each semester.

Outside the classroom, New York City becomes a performance hall. Play in clubs, concert halls, and venues throughout New York and in festivals and exchange programs around the world. Start your professional performance career now through our Gig Office; we have the largest music internship program in New York. You can work with producers, editors, and recording artists of the highest caliber. Students will be immersed not only in the newest music but also in the nuances of how the music industry runs.

Our curriculum allows students to infuse their music education with elements of design, literature, history, journalism and more. You can take courses offered at the Mannes School of Music, Parsons School of Design, and Eugene Lang College of Liberal Arts. In addition, we have created a number of project-based interdisciplinary classes, such as an exploration of sound-image relationships in early 20th-century multimedia art, offered by Parsons and Jazz. The results of this university-wide interconnectivity can be seen in the success of our alumni in a range of genres and categories of creative work, both in and outside of music.