In 1972 Duke Ellington, Eubie Blake, Dizzy Gillespie, Slam Stewart, Max Roach, Mary Lou Williams, Odetta, Dave Brubeck and many, many (See DE Fellows) other jazz musicians came to Yale to celebrate this "Conservatory Without Walls". Yale President Kingman Brewster awarded 32 Duke Ellington Medals to these icons. Since that time, 16 other great jazz musicians have received the medal. Materials in this website are largely from that initial summit of jazz musicians in 1972 at Yale University.

In the twenty-five years since it was founded, the Duke Ellington Fellowship at Yale has come of age. Great American artists, themselves Ellington Fellows, regularly visit Yale and inner-city school classrooms each year for concerts and classwork. More the 150,000 New Haven school children have heard world class performances, received instruction, and been inspired by our program. While our major focus has been on jazz music played by great orchestras and soloists, Ellington Fellows also inlcude the master singer of spirituals, William Warfield; Joe Williams of the mighty blues tradition; great folk artists such as Odetta and Bessie Jones; and major performers of the American tap school.

The Duke Ellington Fellowship's concerts are listed on the Yale School of Music Concert Calendar.