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Thursday, 02 September 2010

Scholarships and Surprise Performance Opportunity for Young Jazz Pianist

Written by Andrea Canter, Contributing Editor

Wednesday, 19 May 2010

Quentin Tschofen, Chantil Dukart, and Kai Olstad, 2010 Scholarship Winners©Andrea Canter

The final round of the 6th Annual Jazz Piano Scholarship Competition was held at the Dakota Jazz Club on May 16th, with three talented teen pianists vying for a Performance Prize to augment their scholarships. As it turned out, they were also competing for an opportunity to perform with acclaimed bassist Christian McBride. When the judging was done, 16-year-old Quentin Tschofen of Robbinsdale emerged the winner, taking home the $500 Performance Prize and getting the opportunity of a lifetime (at least a young lifetime!)—sitting in with McBride’s band on the Dakota Stage just a few hours later.

McBride was coming to town to perform at the Dakota Jazz Club with his quintet, Inside Straight, and agreed to serve as guest judge for the piano competition, sponsored annually by the Schubert Club and Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education. Open to jazz pianists in grades 9-12, all competitors submit taped performances that are reviewed by a panel of judges to determine the recipients of three $500 scholarships. These three finalists then compete before another panel of judges and live audience for an additional $500 Performance Prize. Their final performances are given in both solo and trio format; this year’s professional rhythm section included bassist Gordy Johnson and drummer Phil Hey. When McBride’s flight into the Twin Cities was delayed, his drummer, Carl Allen, ably took over judging duties, joining local pianists Mary Louise Knutson and Phil Aaron. In addition to touring with McBride, Benny Green and others, Allen is the director of Jazz Studies at Juilliard.

The Finalists

Chantil Dukart, winner of the Marie Froehlich Scholarship, with patron John Froehlich©Andrea Canter

Each finalist received a $500 scholarship and considerable positive and constructive commentary from the judges following their performances:

Chantil Dukart, 18, became the first out-of-state candidate in the history of the competition. From Colorado Springs, CO, she graduates this week from Air Academy High School, and will go on to study jazz at the University of Miami in the fall. Chantil was first attracted to jazz hearing a jazz pianist playing in an exhibition at a Costco store, and has been studying with Bruce Pennington. For her performance on Sunday, she played two original compositions, “Sun Dance” with the trio and “The Sea” as a solo, along with a trio rendition of Duke Ellington’s “In A Sentimental Mood.” Chantil was awarded the Marie Froelich Scholarship, given in honor of a long-time Twin Cities piano teacher supper-club performer. Notes her family, “She would have loved this competition and would have wanted to be in the front row listening.”

Kai Olstad©Andrea Canter

Kai Olstad, 17, is finishing his junior year at Northfield High School. In the past year he has been part of the MacPhail Advanced Jazz Ensemble under the direction of Bryan Nichols, and also is a student of Laura Caviani. He began piano at about age 8, and was introduced to piano by instructor Karen Pieper at MacPhail four years ago. For his final performance, he played Charlie Parker’s “Confirmation” (trio) and Thelonious Monk’s “Ruby My Dear” (solo), and finished with an original composition by his MacPhail cohort Jordan Jenkins, “The Sixth Sense” with the trio. Kai was awareded the David Paulus Scholarship, honoring the late attorney and pianist who was a winner of the Senior High School Piano Division scholarship.

Performance Prize Winner

Quentin Tschofen, 16, is finishing his tenth grade year in the Light House Program of Spring Lake Park Schools. A student of Bryan Nichols at MacPhail and the pianist for the Dakota Combo, directed by Adam Linz, Quentin has played piano for ten years, with an interest in jazz for the past five. For his final performance, Quentin played Wayne Shorter’s “Fee-Fi-Fo-Fum” and his original “Mirror” with the trio, and went solo on “Monk’s Dream” by Thelonious Monk. Quentin received the Jane Matteson Scholarship, offered in honor of the late patron of the Dakota Jazz Club and co-founder of the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education who helped inspire the scholarship competition. Following the judging, Quentin was awarded the Performance Prize ($500), given this year in honor of the late Dale Schatzlein. In addition to an encore with Gordy Johnson and Phil Hey, Quentin received a surprise bonus – the opportunity to sit in on a tune with Christian McBride and Inside Straight during their gig at the Dakota Jazz Club later in the evening. Anyone attending that first set Sunday night was surely impressed by Quentin’s poise and ability to effectively interact with the band on a “Blues in F.”

For Quentin, it was a big day! “I really enjoyed the opportunity to perform in the competition," he said. "I found the feedback from the judges helpful and informative, and they suggested some things to work on that I will be definitely practicing some more. Sitting in with Christian McBride and Inside Straight was a huge honor and one of the biggest highlights of my year... it was a lot of fun!”

This final bonus performance capped a day of exceptional young talents, surely three “winners” from whom we will be hearing more in the future. And soon: Local scholarship recipients Kai Olstad and Quentin Tschofen will present a “Piano Showcase” twice in June—on June 3rd at the Artists Quarter (7 pm) sponsored by the Twin Cities Jazz Society’s Young Artists Series, and on June 19th (3:15 pm) on the Youth Stage at Cray, part of the Twin Cities Jazz Festival, sponsored by the Dakota Foundation for Jazz Education.

For more information about the Jazz Piano Scholarship Competition, visit www. Schubert.org or contact Jason Kdurna at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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