Javier Santiago © Andrea Canter

Three young jazz pianists will perform as finalists in the Third Annual Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education/ Schubert Club Jazz Piano Scholarship Competition on Sunday, May 20^th, 2-4 pm at the Dakota Jazz Club. Open to students ages 15 through 18, the competition rewards excellence among students of America's great indigenous art form. The first three scholarships were awarded in 2005.

The Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education 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 the past year has been the first edition of the Dakota Combo, an ensemble of standout high school jazz artists directed by local trumpeter/educator Kelly Rossum. The Combo rehearsed throughout the fall and performed on the Dakota club stage with internationally renowned saxophonist Bobby Watson in December. Other projects of the Foundation have included summer jazz camp scholarships and residencies from the Brubeck Institute (2005) and Monk Institute (2006); this summer the Foundation will sponsor the Student Stage at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival.

The Schubert Club is a long-standing St. Paul organization dedicated to the promotion and performance of classical music. In addition to its acclaimed concert series, the Schubert Club promotes education and performance opportunities for future professional musicians through several scholarship programs. In the past year, a finalist from the 2006 jazz piano competition was invited to perform at one of the “Courtroom Concerts” in Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul.

The Scholarship Competition

Joel Friedman © Andrea Canter

This year’s judges will be three well-known area jazz pianists: Jeanne Arland Peterson, Chris Lomheim, and Karen Pieper. Jeanne Arland Peterson was awarded a Lifetime Achievement Award at the 2005 KBEM Winter Jazz Festival and has been entertaining area audiences for over 60 years; she was a judge in the 2006 scholarship competition. Chris Lomheim was himself an award-winning student musician who is known for his lyrical phrasing and compositions. In addition to his own trio he often supports area vocalists. Karen Pieper has taught at MacPhail for 23 years and is co-leader (with husband Tom) of Spirit Jazz. She also has considerable experience playing for stage productions and improvising music for silent films at Oak Street Cinema and Walker Art Center.

The Finalists

Two of last year’s finalists are again scholarship winners. Javier Santiago, who won the competition last year, has been awarded the 2007 David Paulus Scholarship. A graduating senior at Watershead High School (Minneapolis), Javier studies with Tanner Taylor and has been a member of the Dakota Combo. Joel Friedman was awarded the 2007 Jane Matteson Scholarship. A student of Nachito Herrera, Joel will be graduating this spring from the Perpich Center for the Arts. The third finalist, Kevin Kay, was awarded the Mary Froehlich Scholarship. He’s a senior at St. Cloud Technical High School and a student of Bill Duna.

Each pianist will play two pieces backed by two of the area's finest--bassist Gordon Johnson 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 www.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