Duke Ellington (1899-1974), born Edward Kennedy Ellington in Washington D.C., was an American jazz pianist, composer, and bandleader who led his orchestra without interruption for fifty years. Over that span he wrote more than two thousand compositions, ranging from three-minute swing classics to extended suites. Music critic Ralph J. Gleason called him "America's most important composer," and in 1999 - twenty-five years after his death - he received a posthumous special Pulitzer Prize citation.
In September 2025, an annual memorial celebration was held in New York at the statue of Duke Ellington, organized by Duke Ellington Center for the Arts and American Tap Dance Foundation.
In October 2024, USC Thornton School of Music organized a tribute to the 125th anniversary of Ellington's birth titled "Rockin' in Rhythm: Re-Imagining the Legacy of Duke Ellington".
In the 2023-2024 season, Kennedy Center in Washington, D.C. commemorated Ellington's 125th birthday with season-long celebrations throughout the institution.
The Boston Symphony Orchestra presented a program for the 50th anniversary of Ellington's death featuring Three Black Kings, Night Creature, and selections from Sacred Concerts.
