2nd Annual Essentially Ellington

2026 USC Jazz Studies Essentially Ellington Regional featuring Jon Faddis

The 2026 USC Jazz Studies Essentially Ellington Regional is a learning, adjudication and performance opportunity for regional high school and middle school jazz students to perform for and work with our world class jazz faculty, Jazz at Lincoln Center faculty and our guest artist, Jon Faddis, American jazz trumpet player and conductor.

2026 USC Jazz Studies Essentially Ellington Regional

February 2026

9 a.m. – 5 p.m.	Adjudication and clinics with Rodney Whitaker, USC Jazz Faculty and Jazz at Lincoln Center Faculty
5:00 p.m.	Awards Ceremony
7:30 p.m.	Concert: Left Bank Big Band featuring Jon Faddis

Each ensemble will have a 30-minute warm-up period, a 30-minute performance period in the School of Music Recital Hall and a 30-minute clinic with our jazz faculty or guest artist. Ensembles will also receive a professional recording of their performance.

All registered bands must play one tune from the Essentially Ellington library at the 2026 USC Jazz Studies Essentially Ellington Regional. In order to have full access to the entire Essentially Ellington library, all bands must register (for free) here.

Registration includes free tickets and reserved seating for all students to the evening concerts. There will be musical vendors on site. The School of Music is conveniently located near numerous dining and entertainment options. Hotel discounts are available for ensembles wishing to stay overnight.

Registration Deadline - Registration has ended.

Director of the 2026 USC Jazz Studies Essentially Ellington Regional: Lauren Meccia

About Jon Faddis

Jon Faddis is a complete and consummate musician – conductor, composer, and educator. Marked by both intense integrity and humor, Faddis earned accolades from his close friend and mentor John Birks “Dizzy” Gillespie, who declared of Faddis, “He’s the best ever, including me!” As a trumpeter, Faddis possesses a virtually unparalleled range and full command of his instrument, making the practically impossible seem effortless.

Born in 1953, Faddis began playing at age seven.

Faddis’ distinctive trumpet appears on hundreds of records and numerous soundtracks for film and television. Faddis’ original compositions include the Jazz opera Lulu Noire (1997) (named a “Top 10” pick by USA Today); other Faddis compositions may be heard on his Grammy-nominated Remembrances (Chesky 1998), Hornucopia (Epic 1991), Into the Faddisphere (Epic 1989), and TERANGA (Koch 2006).

Faddis is known as one of the most innovative and inspiring jazz trumpeters of our time. He has an unfailing commitment to the education of young musicians and frequently conducts clinics and mater classes worldwide to help the next generation of jazz musicians. In Chicago, Faddis served as the Jazz Institute of Chicago’s first mentor for the Jazz Links program and also created the Louis Armstrong Legacy Program. Faddis is a full-time faculty member at the Conservatory of Music, Purchase College-SUNY, where he began in 1999 as Artist-in-Residence, becoming shortly after Professor and Director of Jazz Performance. Faddis holds the first-ever honorary doctorate in Jazz from Manhattan School of Music (which he attended for about a semester when he was 18), as well as numerous other accolades and awards.

School of Music