Jazz Police

Home

Twin Cities, MN

Twin Cities Musicians, Venues, Reviews and Calendar

resources and reviews

Three Young Jazz Pianists Awarded Scholarships

Main Menu

Free and Cheap Jazz in the Twin Cities

Twin Cities Musicians, Venues, Reviews and Calendar

Jazz Venues

MPR news

Twin Cities Jazz Society

Out To Lunch Quintet, the Music of Eric Dolphy Live

Wine Tasting

Twin Cities Travel Guide

“‘Swing’ is an adjective or a verb , not a noun. All jazz musicians should swing. There is no such thing as a ’swing band’ in music.” - Artie Shaw

Friday, 09 January 2009

Three Young Jazz Pianists Awarded Scholarships

Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor

Monday, 21 May 2007

Javier Santiago, Joel Friedman and Kevin Kay © Andrea Canter

Three young jazz pianists, all graduating high school seniors, performed before an appreciative audience in the finals of the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education/Schubert Club annual Jazz Piano Scholarship Competition. Held at the Dakota Jazz Club in downtown Minneapolis, the student musicians had already been awarded $500 scholarships. With three acclaimed local pianists critiquing their efforts, the afternoon competition culminated in the awarding of one additional $500 scholarship, the Performance Award, given to Kevin Kay of St. Cloud.

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. This spring, a record number thirteen students submitted audio tapes or CDs of their performance of three tunes each; a panel of judges blindly reviewed the submissions and selected three students as winners of three $500 scholarships. The three finalists will also appear on the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education Stage at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in June, and selected finalists will be invited to perform at the Dakota and as part of the Schubert Club’s Courtroom Concert series in St. Paul next year.

The Judges

Jeanne Arland Peterson, Chris Lomheim and Karen Pieper © Andra Canter

Judges for the finals this year included 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 the MacPhail Center for Music for more than two decades 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. Each finalist prepared three pieces for the final judging, one of which was a solo while the others were played with a rhythm section that included master bassist Gordon Johnson and popular drummer Phil Hey.

Javier Santiago, who won the Jane Matteson Scholarship and Performance Award 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. In the fall, Javier will join the elite Brubeck Institute Fellows program, one of four musicians selected nationally. For his program, Javier performed Herbie Hancock’s “Dolphin Dance” (solo), Jerome Kern’s “Long Ago and Far Away,” and an untitled original tune. His composition in 7/8 time won particular praise from the judges.

Joel Friedman , who received the Marie Froehlich Award last year, 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, and plans to attend the University of Minnesota for at least a semester while applying to music schools. Joel’s program included Charlie Parker’s “Donna Lee,” Rogers and Hart’s “My Funny Valentine” (solo), and John Coltrane’s “Giant Steps.” His complex rendition of “My Funny Valentine” pleased the crowd and drew particular comment from the judges.

The third finalist, Kevin Kay, was awarded the 2007 Mary Froehlich Scholarship and the 2007 Performance Award. A senior at St. Cloud Technical High Schools and a student of Bill Duna, Kevin plans to attend Brown University in the fall. Kevin started out solo on “I Fall in Love Too Easily” (Sammy Cahn/Jules Styne) and filled out his program with “Stella By Starlight” (Victor Young) and “Georgia on My Mind” (Hoagy Carmichael), the latter drawing the most praise from the judges.

The Sponsors

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 (established in 1882), 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 and master classes, and operates a Museum of Musical Instruments. 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 Marie Froehlich Award is donated in honor of the family of piano teacher and performer Marie Froehlich. Daughter of a musician, Marie returned to music after she was widowed, and became a piano teacher and supper club musician, playing into her late 80s. Her last public performance was a Schubert Club Courtroom Concert.

The David Paulus Award honors the 1969 winner of the Schubert Club Scholarship Competition. Learning piano and trumpet as a youngster, David Paulus went on to work as a pianist and singing waiter in Glacier National Park before attending law school; after retiring from law he played piano for Carnival Cruise Line tours, passing away in 2003 on the island of Barbados. David’s nephew Greg Paulus learned trumpet on his uncle’s instrument and is now a New York –based jazz musician.

The Jane Matteson Award honors the co-founder of the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education, the only person to serve on both the Dakota Foundation and Schubert Club Boards of Directors. An ardent jazz fan throughout her life, Jane was a fixture at the Dakota in its old St. Paul location. Annually, her memory is also honored with the Jane Award for outstanding contributions to jazz education.

The three finalists in the 2007 Jazz Piano Scholarship Competition will perform with MacPhail Center for Music faculty on July 1, at 5 pm, on the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education Stage (10^th and Nicollet Mall) as part of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival.

Comments

Add New