Home > News > UCLA TO HOST FREE TWO-DAY JAZZ SYMPOSIUM ON THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF DUKE ELLINGTON APRIL 30-MAY 1

UCLA TO HOST FREE TWO-DAY JAZZ SYMPOSIUM ON THE LIFE AND MUSIC OF DUKE ELLINGTON APRIL 30-MAY 1

A complete agenda of the symposium follows this announcement. Prominent musicians and world-renowned experts on the music of Edward Kennedy (Duke) Ellington will convene at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall Auditorium April 30-May 1 to discuss the cultural importance of one of the century’s foremost musical icons. The free symposium, titled "Duke Ellington and his Contributions to Twentieth-Century Music," is sponsored by UCLA’s Department of Ethnomusicology, the Center for African-American Studies(CAAS) and the University of California Humanities Research Institute (HRI).

The symposium will cover the many facets of the life and work of Ellington, regarded by many as this century’s most important composer, bandleader and pianist. It also will explore Ellington’s musical influences and the impact he has had on society, as well as examine his unique collaborations with lyricists, choreographers, filmmakers and other musicians. Ellington was recently selected to the first class of inductees to the American Classical Music Hall of Fame in Cincinnati, joining the company of such distinguished artists as George Gershwin, Isaac Stern and John Philip Sousa.

Said internationally acclaimed guitarist Kenny Burrell, a UCLA professor of music and ethnomusicology and director of the UCLA Jazz Studies Program: "This very significant event will focus on the African-American cultural context from which Ellington and his music emerged and the effect of his music on American and other cultures. It will consider the growing worldwide consensus that Duke Ellington is one of the most important musical contributors of the 20th century."

Moderated by Burrell, who performed with "Duke" and established the country’s first college course on his life and music, the symposium will feature two of the world’s leading authorities on Ellington’s music, Dr. Mark Tucker and Luther Henderson II. Tucker, an Ellington scholar, wrote his Ph.D. dissertation on Ellington and has written three books on the jazz legend. Henderson is one of jazz’s most versatile arrangers and orchestrators –having worked with a variety of musicians in many genres, including more than a decade alongside Ellington.

Scholar, composer, conductor and author Gunther Schuller will be one of the distinguished speakers. Former Ellington band members Louie Bellson, Bill Berry and Buster Cooper will share their personal insights into the music, inner workings and philosophies of Ellington. In addition to the Ellingtonians, the symposium will showcase a diverse group of first-class musicians and panelists who will discuss the merits and elements of Ellington’s music and his composition and leadership. They include: Lalo Schifrin, Anthony Brown, Anthony Davis, James Newton, Daphne Harrison, Al Young, John Clayton, Steve Loza, Richard Yarborough, Paul Chihara, Cheryl Keyes, Eddie Meadows and Jacqueline Dje Dje, among others.

A special closing concert on Saturday, May 1, from 7:30 to 9:30 p.m., will feature six Los Angeles high school bands performing with UCLA’s No. 1 Big Band.

The symposium is part of a series of activities planned at UCLA to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the birth of the legendary jazz artist. In addition to the symposium, the Duke Ellington Centennial Celebration at UCLA will feature two star-studded concerts at Royce Hall on April 29-30, an Ellington film festival sponsored by the UCLA Film and Television Archive, a four-day photography exhibition to be displayed at Royce Hall and a series of lectures on Ellington given by Burrell. UCLA’s Powell Library and the Charles E. Young Research Library will present selections from library collections on Ellington. To kick off the celebration, a statue of Ellington by renowned sculptor Robert Graham will be dedicated at a ceremony April 29 at UCLA’s Schoenberg Hall.

The Department of Ethnomusicology, the first and only department of its kind in the United States, explores traditional music from all the continents of the world, the music of America’s many ethnic groups and contemporary forms of American popular and "world beat" music, including jazz. The department has granted more Ph.Ds and master’s degrees in ethnomusicology than any other program in the world. Founded in 1969, UCLA’s Center for African American Studies is ranked among the nation’s top-three academic research centers in African-American studies. The center conducts and sponsors multi-disciplinary research on the African-American experience, and coordinates the B.A. and M.A. degree programs at UCLA. As part of its commitment to promote research in the humanities, the University of California Research Institute (HRI) participates in supporting conferences on the nine UC campuses.

For more information, call Diana de Cardenas at (310) 206-1464.


Contact: Carolyn Campbell
Phone: (310) 825-6540
Email: ccampbel@arts.ucla.edu