KISSIMMEE, Fla. \u2014 The Osceola County School for the Arts Jazz A Band has once again earned national recognition, securing a return invitation to compete in the prestigious Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition & Festival in New York City.<\/p>\n
Presented by Jazz at Lincoln Center, the competition will take place April 30 through May 2, 2026, and will feature 20 of the top high school jazz bands selected from across the globe. A total of 119 schools submitted applications this year, making the selection highly competitive. Osceola County School for the Arts is one of only three programs invited back to the event\u2014an achievement that underscores the ensemble\u2019s continued excellence.<\/p>\n
Under the direction of Director of Jazz Studies Jason Anderson, the Jazz A Band has built a distinguished reputation on the national stage, including earning first-place honors at Essentially Ellington in both 2022 and 2023. The group will return to New York aiming to once again perform among the nation\u2019s best and contend for top honors.<\/p>\n
As part of its preparation, the band will host a special clinic on April 1 featuring acclaimed jazz trumpeter, composer, and educator Pharez Whitted. The workshop is part of the competition\u2019s educational outreach, offering students expert guidance and performance insight ahead of their trip to New York.<\/p>\n
Now in its 31st year, Essentially Ellington is widely regarded as one of the most prestigious jazz education programs in the world, combining performance, mentorship, and immersive learning experiences. The three-day festival culminates in a final concert and awards ceremony at Frederick P. Rose Hall.<\/p>\n
In support of the students\u2019 journey, Osceola County Commissioner for District 2 Viviana Janer provided a $10,000 contribution through her Osceola County Betterment Grant to help offset travel expenses associated with the trip.<\/p>\n
The recognition highlights both the exceptional talent of Osceola County\u2019s young musicians and the continued strength of arts education in the community, as the Jazz A Band prepares to once again represent Central Florida on one of the world\u2019s most prominent stages.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"KISSIMMEE, Fla. \u2014 The Osceola County School for the Arts Jazz A Band has once again earned national…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":212909,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[97322,139,141,140,97323],"class_list":["post-212908","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-orlando","tag-ocsa-jazz-band-a","tag-orlando","tag-orlando-headlines","tag-orlando-news","tag-osceola-schools"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212908","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=212908"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/212908\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/212909"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=212908"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=212908"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-fl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=212908"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}