The third annual Jack Rudin Jazz Championship, held by Jazz at Lincoln Center, will be held January 14-15, 2023, at JALC’s Frederick P. Rose Hall and the Appel Room. Named after Jack Rudin, longtime supporter of JALC and founding supporter of its Essentially Ellington competition, the JRJC is an invitational competition among 10 university jazz programs.
The 10 competing schools in 2023 will be: Florida State University, Tallahassee, FL; Ithaca College, Ithaca, NY; Michigan State University College of Music, East Lansing, MI; North Carolina Central University, Durham, NC; Northern Illinois University, Dekalb, IL; Peabody Conservatory of Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore; Temple University, Philadelphia; Texas Southern University, Houston; University of Wyoming, Laramie, WY; and Vanderbilt University, Nashville.
First place in the Jack Rudin Jazz Championship competition in 2022 went to Michigan State University’s College of Music (photo above). Second place was awarded to Temple. Third place winner was North Carolina Central University. The June 2022 issue of Jersey Jazz Magazine profiled four outstanding performers from the Temple program: Banks Sapnar, Outstanding Trumpet; Maria Marmarou, Outstanding Drums; Dylan Band, Outstanding Tenor Saxophone; and Danielle Dougherty, Honorable Mention, Vocals.
Judges for the 2023 competition will be a panel of leading jazz performers including trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, who is JALC Managing & Artistic Director; drummer Jeff Hamilton; saxophonist Ted Nash; and vocalist Catherine Russell.
PHOTO BY LAWRENCE SUMULONG