 The 2007 judges included Jeanne Arland Peterson, Chris Lomheim, and Karen Pieper © Andrea Canter 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 performance opportunities. Recent highlight activities have included the expanded Dakota Combo project, 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 trombonist and bandleader, Delfeayo Marsalis, in December; toured three area schools for performance and demonstration in February, will perform at MacPhail on May 22nd and at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival on June 28th. 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 again 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. Last 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 2007 finalists: Javier Santiago, Joel Friedman and Kevin Kay © Andrea Canter The Scholarship Competition
Young jazz pianists, age 15-18, submitted audio tapes or CDs of their performance of three tunes each; a panel of judges blindly reviewed the submissions and selected two students as winners of $500 scholarships. The finalists will perform before another panel of judges and a live audience at the Dakota Jazz Club, and a third scholarship will be awarded to the winner. The finalists will also appear on the Student Stage at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival in June. The scholarships include the David Paulus Scholarship, the Marie Froehlich Scholarship and the Jane Matteson Scholarship (Performance Award). The competition program this year will be hosted by new director of the Schubert Club, Kathleen Van Bergen. This year’s judges include Jeanne Arland Peterson, Mary Louise Knutson and Tanner Taylor. Jeanne Arland Peterson was recently inducted into the Midwest Music Hall of Fame and has been entertaining area audiences for over 60 years; she was a judge in the 2006 and 2006 scholarship competitions. Mary Louise Knutson was a finalist at the first Mary Lou Williams Jazz Piano Competition at Kennedy Center in Washington, DC in 2005. She released the highly acclaimed CD, Call Me When You Get There, in 2001, performs regularly with the JazzMN Big Band and her own trio, and has toured the Midwest with her trio and in Italy with vocalist Debbie Duncan. Tanner Taylor arrived six years ago from Iowa and Twin Cities’ piano has not been the same since! In addition to backing some of the finest national touring artists (like David Fathead Newman and Barbara Morrison), Tanner backs many local vocalists, plays piano for Mulligan Stew and the Dave Karr Quartet, and fronts his own trio.  2007 Performance Award winner Kevin Kay is congratulated by Jason Kudrna of the Schubert Club © Andrea Canter The Finalists The finalists include Jacob Wittenberg, a senior at Henry Sibley High School, and Joe Strachan, a junior at Northfield High School. Jacob, a student of Tom Pletscher, was a finalist in 2006; he has been awarded the Marie Froehlich Memorial Scholarship for 2008. Joe, a student of Laura Caviani, has been awarded the David Paulus Memorial Scholarship for 2008. Jacob and Joe will be competing Sunday for the Jane Matteson Performance Award. Each pianist will play two pieces backed by master musicians Gordy Johnson on bass and Phil Hey on drums. Remarks from the judges will follow the performances, and the presentation of 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 2008 competition is available at www.schubert.org; other questions can be directed to Jason Kudrna at The Schubert Club, 651-292-3267, or
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. Full scholarship program information is available at http://www.schubert.org/scholarships/scholarships-jazz.html |
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Monday, 01 December 2008
