Three young jazz pianists will perform as finalists in the Second Annual Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education/ Schubert Club Jazz Piano Scholarship Competition on Sunday, May 21^st, 2-3:30 pm at the Dakota Jazz Club. Open to students from ages 15 through 18, the competition rewards excellence among students of America's great indigenous art form. The first three scholarships were awarded last year to Micah Fitch, Jacob Siegel, and Elizabeth Stoikan.

Micah Fitch, 2005, photo by Andrea Canter

The Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education, known as the J-Train, is a non-profit organization sponsored by the Minneapolis-based Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant, dedicated to bringing jazz and education together through educational programs and free concert performances. A highlight of 2006 has been a residency of student musicians from the Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, as the inaugural Peer to Peer Jazz Education Program of the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz Studies at the University of Southern California. The student sextet presented clinics in schools throughout the Twin Cities and performed with alto sax titan Bobby Watson and vocalist Lisa Henry at the Dakota.

Jacob Siegel, photo by Andrea Canter

The Schubert Club is a long-standing St. Paul organization dedicated to the promotion and performance of classical music. In addition to its renowned concert series, the Schubert Club promotes the education and performance opportunities for future professional musicians through several scholarship programs.

The Scholarship Competition
Young jazz pianists, age 15-18, submitted audio tapes or CDs of their performance of three tunes each. The three finalists will perform before a panel of judges and a live audience at the Dakota Jazz Club and Restaurant, and scholarships, totaling $2,000, will be awarded in honor of David Paulus, Marie Froelich, and Jane Matteson. A selected finalist will also perform at the Dakota Jazz Club; and the winning finalist will receive a second scholarship and perform both at the Hot Summer Jazz Festival and at a Schubert Club Courtroom Concert later in the year.

This year’s judges will be three well-known area jazz pianists: Lee Blaske, Nachito Herrera, and Jeanne Arland Peterson. Lee Blaske plays with many area artists and is a long-standing member of the BWC (Bobby Commodore) Trio and the Ginger Commodore Quartet; Cuban transplant Nachito Herrera is a monthy performer at the Dakota and known for his explosive renditions of son, bolero and cha cha; Jeanne Arland Peterson recently was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the KBEM Winter Jazz Festival and has been entertaining area audiences for over 60 years.

Elizabeth Stoikan 2005, photo by Andrea Canter

Finalists for the 2006 Scholarships include: Jacob Wittenberg (The David Paulus Scholarship); Joel Friedman (The Marie Froehlich Scholarship), and Javier Santiago (The Jane Matteson Scholarship). Jacob is a 15-year-old sophomore at Henry Sibley High School in West. St. Paul and a student of Tom Pletscher. Pletscher also teaches Joel, a 17-year-old junior at the Perpich Center for the Arts in Golden Valley. Javier, age 16, studies with Laura Caviani and is a junior at South High School in Minneapolis. The three finalists will have the ultimate professional support from bassist Terry Burns and drummer Phil Hey.

Remarks from the judges will follow the performances, and the scholarships and Performance Award will conclude the afternoon event. The competition finals are free and open to the public.

The Dakota is located at 1010 Nicollet Mall in downtown Minneapolis; www.dakotacooks.com. Information regarding the 2007 competition is available at ww.schubert.org; other questions can be directed to Jason Kudrna at The Schubert Club, 651-292-3267, or This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

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