Tag: award ceremonies

ASCAP Honors 5 Jazz Legends and 36 Emerging Talents

ASCAPJazzWallOfFame
Five jazz legends and 36 emerging talents were honored at the 2014 ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame Induction Ceremony, which was held at the New York Institute of Technology’s Auditorium on June 9. Paul Williams, ASCAP’s president and board chairman, presided over the ceremonies which included the presentation of over 40 awards and a total of seven musical performances. Miles Davis biographer Quincy Troupe presented the ASCAP Foundation Vanguard Award to singer-songwriter Gregory Porter, whose album Liquid Spirit received the 2014 Grammy for best jazz vocal album; after receiving his award, Porter sang the album’s title track.

Gregory Porter and his group

Gregory Porter performing the title song from his 2014 Grammy-wining album Liquid Spirit with Albert Crawford (piano) Aaron James (double bass), Emanuel Harold (drums), and Yousuke Satoh (alto saxophone), after receiving the ASCAP Foundation Vanguard Award.

Two of the five Wall of Fame honorees—vocalist Helen Merrill and pianist/composer/arranger Dick Hyman—were in attendance to accept their awards and gave heartfelt interpretations of music that was extremely important to them.


Merrill, who first came to fame for her 1954 debut recording which featured trumpet icon Clifford Brown and bassist Oscar Pettiford, sang the 1926 Ray Henderson-Mort Dixon standard “Bye, Bye Blackbird” which she originally recorded over a half century ago on her classic 1958 album The Nearness of You. The 87-year-old Hyman, who has made over 100 albums but is probably best known for his role as music director for 11 of Woody Allen’s films, performed a solo piano rendition of his 1969 composition “The Minotaur.” It was particularly fascinating to hear it this way since his original recording of it was the first ever top-40 hit performed on a Moog synthesizer.


Beverly Clarke, the granddaughter of blues icon Bessie Smith (1894-1937) accepted a plaque on her behalf, and Latin percussionist/composer Bobby Sanabria accepted on behalf of Puerto Rico-born trombonist/composer Juan Tizol (1900-1984), who is perhaps most remembered today for

Caravan” and “Perdido” as well as his many years as a sideman in the Duke Ellington Orchestra. During his spirited acceptance speech, Sanabria offered a list of many important Puerto Ricans who contributed to the history of jazz. To additionally honor Smith and Tizol, Vaneese Thomas sang George Brooks’s “Send Me To The Electric Chair,” which was immortalized in Bessie Smith’s 1927 recording, and trombonist Steve Turre led a quintet in “Caravan.” Although guitarist Kenny Burrell (b. 1931) is still very much with us, he was not able to attend the event, but a recorded video message from him was screened for the audience, and his protégé Russell Malone gave a phenomenal performance of “Listen to the Dawn,” one of Burrell’s most famous compositions.


Before the five 2014 Wall of Fame inductees were honored in words and live music, Ken Hatfield and Sachal Vasandani announced the recipients of the 2014 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards. The composers (who range in age from 11 to 29) and their award-winning compositions are listed below.
Nii Akwei Adoteye: “The Oblivious Giants”
Michael Caudill: “Time to Go”
Esteban Castro: “I’m Dizzy!”
Michael Conrad: “West Point”
Rafael de Lima: “Fables of Mingus”
Addison Frei: “Delicate Fog”
Walter Gorra: “Jazongo”
Nicolas Hetko: “Lights Out”
Daniel Kaneyuki: “The Awakening”
Keith Karns: “The Square”
Martha Kato: “Frostwork”
John Kosch: “Only You”
Paul Krueger: “Phoenix Metamorphosis”
Sara McDonald: “Sandcastles”
Michael Orenstein: “There, Here”
Andrew Schiller: “Sirens”
Jeff Schneider: “When You Know She Loves You Back”
Erica Seguine: “Reel No. 1”
Josh Shpak: “Let Go”
Todd Simon: “Amalgam”
Martin Terens: “Lost”
Zan Tetickovic: “Ples”
Tissiana Vallecillo: “Dynamite Chihuahua”
Matt Wong: “Jerry y Andrea”
Zac Zinger: “Cerberus”
Christopher Zuar: “So Close, And Yet So Far Away”
Nicole Zuraitis: “To the Hive”

2014 Alpert Winners

The 2014 Alpert Winners

The following composers received honorable mention:
Juan Anderson: “Mala Suerte” / “La Alhambra De Noche”
Dominic Bierenga: “Don’t Wait for Tomorrow”
Jake Chapman: “Ecuador”
Jodie Landau: “Counting Sheep”
David Meder: “Elegy”
Caili O’Doherty: “The Promise of Old Panama City”
Jeremy Siskind: “Spin So Violent”
Benjamin Tiberio: “(e)motion”
Hatfield additionally presented the 2014 ASCAP Foundation Johnny Mandel Prize to Erica Seguine who, after receiving her award, performed her intriguing Celtic-infused award-winning composition “Reel No. 1,” whose main theme is punctuated by an insistent single note piano ostinato.


United States congressman John Conyers, Jr. of Michigan was scheduled to receive ASCAP’s first-ever Jazz Advocate Award, but he was unable to attend, so his award will be presented to him at a later date. The panelists for the 2014 ASCAP Jazz Wall of Fame were Alan Bergman, Jay Leonart, and Rufus Reid. The judges for the 2014 Alpert Awards were Ken Hatfield, Rufus Reid, and Sachal Vasandani.

All in all, it was an extraordinary celebration of the past, present, and future of jazz and the audience seemed extremely appreciative. Among the luminaries in attendance were the legendary jazz vocalist Sheila Jordan (who appears in the background of the Erica Seguine video above), pianist/arranger Roger Kellaway, jazz radio host Phil Schaap, and Mercedes Ellington, granddaughter of Duke Ellington and the president and founding artistic director of the Duke Ellington Center for the Arts.

2013 ASCAP Foundation Awards Announced

Jaime Bernstein presenting Amy Beth Kirsten with the Leonard Bernstein Award, Photo by by Scott Wintrow courtesy ASCAP

Jamie Bernstein presenting Amy Beth Kirsten with the Leonard Bernstein Award. Photo by Scott Wintrow, courtesy ASCAP.

On December 11, 2013, award-winners in over 50 categories spanning composers writing for symphony orchestra and chamber ensembles, jazz groups, musical theatre, film and television, as well as rock, R&B, country and children’s songwriters, were honored at the ASCAP Foundation’s 18th Annual Awards Ceremony, which was held at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Allen Room in the Time Warner Building in New York City.

The top award of the evening, the Champion Award, was awarded to R&B songwriter, recording artist and record producer Ne-Yo. The inaugural George M. Cohan Award, presented to “a multi-talented individual connected to the music industry who [like Cohan] has had a multi-faceted career and has achieved success in a variety of roles,” was given to Martin Charnin; though probably best known as the lyricist for the Broadway musical Annie, Charnin sang and danced in the original cast of West Side Story, has directed plays, and has composed music as well.

Stephen Feigenbaum performing his Elegy for violin and piano with Jessica Oddie

Stephen Feigenbaum performing his Elegy for violin and piano with Jessica Oddie. Photo by Scott Wintrow, courtesy ASCAP.

Since there was not enough time to present awards to all the 2013 honorees during the fast-paced two-hour ceremony, many were given their awards in advance. But all honorees were listed in the program booklet and every recipient who was present was asked to stand at the beginning of the proceedings. As a result of freeing up time that would have spent giving out so many awards, the audience got an opportunity to hear performances by a broad range of the winners.

Brittain Ashford accompanied by Dave Malloy.

Brittain Ashford accompanied by Dave Malloy. Photo by Scott Wintrow, courtesy ASCAP.

Among the highlights was a performance of Elegy for violin and piano by 2013 Morton Gould Young Composer Award-winner Stephen Feigenbaum featuring the composer at the piano accompanying violinist Jessica Oddie. Brittain Ashford, who is the cast of the off-Broadway musical Natasha, Pierre and The Great Comet of 1812 performed a song from the show accompanied at the piano by its composer Dave Malloy, recipient of the 2013 Richard Rodgers New Horizons Award. Jazz composer/multi-instrumentalist Camille Thurman, recipient of the Phoebe Jacobs Prize, led a riveting performance by an all-female quartet which also included pianist Miki Hayama, bassist Mimi Jones, and drummer Shirazette Tinnin.

But the showstopper—at least for me—was a trip-hop infused group fronted by Kiah Victoria, winner of the Desmond Child Anthem Award, whose beat-driven music seamlessly traversed several different tempos.

Kiah Victoria with Jesse Bielenberg, Mike Haldeman, Rahm Silverglade, and Dillon Tracey.

Kiah Victoria with Jesse Bielenberg, Mike Haldeman, Rahm Silverglade, and Dillon Tracey. Photo by Scott Wintrow, courtesy ASCAP.

Peter Stoller presenting the Leiber and Stoller Music Scholarship to Alexis Hatch. Photo by Scott Wintrow, courtesy ASCAP.

Peter Stoller presenting the Leiber and Stoller Music Scholarship to Alexis Hatch. Photo by Scott Wintrow, courtesy ASCAP.

Of course, there were standout award presentations as well. It was particularly thrilling to see Jamie Bernstein bestow the 2013 Leonard Bernstein award on Amy Beth Kirsten (who is well-known to readers of these pages) and, as per previous Foundation Award ceremonies, Mike Stoller’s son Peter Stoller stole the show with the comedic monologue he rattled off (in which he actually referenced Charles Ives) prior to presenting the Leiber and Stoller Music Scholarship to violinist Alexis Hatch.
A complete list of the 2013 ASCAP Foundation Awardees is here.

2012 BMI Student Composer Awards Announced

Composer and jury member Joseph Schwantner, BMI President and CEO Del Bryand, and BMI Foundation President Ralph N. Jackson announced the winners of the 60th annual BMI Student Composer Awards on May 11, 2012, at 6 p.m. in a ceremony at the Jemeirah Essex House in New York City. Nine composers, ages 16-27, were chosen from more than 700 applicants from throughout the Western Hemisphere whose scores were submitted with pseudonyms (in order to be judged anonymously); the winners received cash awards totaling $20,000. The award-winning compositions include two orchestral works, a concertante piece for clarinet and symphonic winds, two song cycles, an unaccompanied choral work, two compositions for Pierrot ensemble, and a work for large chamber ensemble.

Curtis Institute of Music composition student Andrew Hsu (born 1994 in Fremont, CA), who received the award for his Dickinson Songs for soprano and piano, was additionally awarded the William Schuman Prize, which is awarded to the score judged “most outstanding” in the competition. As the youngest winner in this year’s competition, Michael D. Parsons (born 1996), a high school student at the Watchung Hills Regional High School in Stirling, New Jersey, who also studies at The Juilliard School’s Pre-College Division, was additionally awarded the Carlos Surinach Prize; Parsons’s award-winning work is Wolf for full orchestra. Bennu’s Fire for solo clarinet and symphonic band by Roger Zare (born in 1985 in Sarasota, FL) earned its composer his third BMI Student Composer award, which is now the maximum number of times a composer can receive this accolade. (The rule was established subsequent to Charles Wuorinen receiving four BMI Student Composer Awards, the all-time record, between 1959 and 1963.)

The remaining six 2012 awardees and their award-winning compositions are:

Ryan Chase (born 1987 in Port Jefferson, NY): The Light Fantastic for orchestra
Joshua Fishbein (born 1984 in Baltimore, MD): With a Greeting for SSAATTBB a capella chorus
Laura M. Kramer (born 1984 in Minersville, PA): The Miracle of the Walking Fish for baritone and guitar
Joseph E. Lyszczarz (born 1987 in Syracuse, NY): Tracing Shadows for large chamber ensemble
Philippe Macnab-Séguin (born 1992 in Montreal): Ubiquity for flute, clarinet, piano, violin, and cello
Daniel Temkin (born in 1986 in Houston, TX): Butterflies and Dragons for flute, clarinet, violin, cello, piano, and percussion

The jury members for the 2012 competition were Chester Biscardi and three composers who themselves received BMI Student Composer Award early in their careers: Tobias Picker, David Rakowski, and Joseph Schwantner. The preliminary judges were Shafer Mahoney, David Schober, Sean Shepherd, and Bernadette Speech. Ellen Taaffe Zwilich, who was unable to attend the ceremony, served as the chair of the competition. The BMI Student Composer Awards are co-sponsored by BMI and the BMI Foundation, Inc.