 ©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 acclaimed International Concert Series, the Schubert Club promotes education and performance opportunities for future professional musicians through several scholarship programs. In the past, a finalist from the jazz piano competition has been invited to perform at one of the “Courtroom Concerts” in Landmark Center in downtown St. Paul. Schubert Club Director Kathleen van Bergen will serve as the EmCee for the competition finals.
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 Foundation’s recent projects is the Dakota Combo. Initiated in fall 2006, the Combo is a MacPhail Center for Music ensemble of standout high school jazz artists directed by local trumpeter/educator Kelly Rossum. The Combo rehearses throughout the school year, performs on the Dakota club stage with an internationally renowned guest artist, tours area schools, and performs in the spring and summer at MacPhail and the Twin Cities Jazz Festival. Previous piano scholarship winners have included pianists from all three editions of the Combo. Other projects of the Foundation have included summer jazz camp scholarships; residencies from the Brubeck Institute (2005) and Monk Institute (2006); and sponsorship of the Student Stage at the Twin Cities Jazz Festival.  Marcus Roberts
Student pianists 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 perform before another panel of judges and a live audience at the Dakota Jazz Club, and a fourth scholarship will be awarded to the winner. The finalists will be invited to appear on the Dakota Foundation Student Stage at the 2009 Aquatennial Block Party in July. Last year’s Performance Award winner, Jacob Wittenberg, is now a student at Stanford University. Other past scholarship recipients have attended the Manhattan School of Music, Berklee College of Music and the Brubeck Institute of Jazz.
Each pianist will play two pieces backed by a professional bassist and drummer—Adam Linz and Phil Hey, and one solo piece. Remarks from the judges will follow the performances, and the scholarships and Performance Award will conclude the afternoon event. Judges This year’s judges for the finals competition include two well-known area jazz pianists, Mary Louise Knutson and Tanner Taylor, along with a very special guest judge, acclaimed pianist Marcus Roberts: 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. A judge for the competition in 2008, Mary Louise teaches jazz piano and is at work on a new recording for release in 2010.  Mary Louise Knutson©Andrea Canter
A native of Jacksonville raised in the musical traditions of the Baptist Church, Marcus Roberts lost his sight at age 5 and taught himself to play piano at age 8. Hearing Ellington, Benny Goodman and Mary Lou Williams on the radio turned him on to jazz. A 1983 winner of the Great American Piano Competition, he toured with Wynton Marsalis through the 80s. Since then he has become one of the most diverse artists of modern jazz, performing in solo, duo and trio formats, arranging classic standards and composing works for small ensembles and large orchestras. His repertoire covers the history of jazz, from Fats Waller to Ellington to Monk to Coltrane and beyond. A dedicated educator on the faculty of Florida State University, Roberts will stay on at the Dakota following the competition for a special evening of solo performance. (For tickets, visit www.dakotacooks.com).
The Finalists  Tanner Taylor©Andrea Canter Chris Misa moved to Minneapolis from Chicago, and attends the Perpich Center for the Arts. An alternate for the Dakota Combo this year, he also has played with the Isaac Zuckerman Quartet, Minneapolis South High School's Big Band, and on the stage of the Artists Quarter with the student band, The Alternates. Chris cites such sources of inspiration as Herbie Hancock, Chick Corea, Cedar Walton, and McCoy Tyner, as well as modern electronic music and rap. Currently studying with Nachito Herrera, next fall he will pursue music at DePaul University in Chicago. Cody Peterson attends Stillwater High School. He’s studied jazz piano with Ellen Lease. 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 2009 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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Twin Cities, MN 
Tuesday, 09 February 2010
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