2017 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards Announced
The ASCAP Foundation has announced the recipients of the 2017 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards. The recipients, who receive cash awards, range in age from 15 to 30, and are selected through a juried national competition.
The 2017 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award recipients are listed with their age, current residence and place of birth. The youngest winners are listed with their age and state of residence:
- Emily Bear (age 15 of Illinois):
Je Ne Sais Pas - Annie Booth (age 27 of Denver, CO):
Prologue-Park Fanfare - Michael Conrad (age 28 of Greeley, CO; originally from Arlington Heights, IL):
Union - Gizem Gökoğlu (age 30 of New York, NY; originally from Izmir, Turkey):
Garden of Onur - Andrew Karboski (age 22, of New York, NY; originally from Seattle, WA):
An Evening’s Fortune - Gene Knific (age 24 of Chicago, IL; originally from Kalamazoo, MI):
Borderline Fantasy - David Leon (age 23 of Miami, FL):
Me vs. Me - Scott Ninmer (age 27 of Arlington, VA; originally from Decatur, IL):
Maelstrom - Luca Mendoza (age 18 of California):
Omnibus - Christopher Misch-Bloxdorf (age 25 of Milwaukee, WI; originally from Kenosha, WI):
A Shared Office with Superman - Kai Ono (age 21 of Lawrence, KS; originally from Granada Hills, CA):
Everybody is With Everybody Else - Chris Ott (age 29, of Brooklyn, NY; originally from Kettering, OH):
Change - Robert Perez (age 24 of Chino Hills, CA; originally from Covino, CA):
Freefall and Flight - Lucas Pino (age 29 of New York, NY; originally from Phoenix, AZ):
Golden Rule, Turing Test - Diego Joaquin Ramirez (age 27 of Woodside, NY; originally from Cork, Ireland):
The Kick - Nikos Syropoulos (age 28 of Los Angeles, CA; originally from State College, PA):
Portrait of Rhythm: Part 5 - Zan Tetickovic (age 25 of Long Island City, NY; originally from Ptuj, Slovenia):
Euphoria - Matt Wong (age 18 of New York, NY; originally from San Francisco, CA):
Golden Fields - Christopher Zuar (age 29 of New York, NY):
Ha! (Joke’s On You)
Composers receiving Honorable Mention this year are: Lucas Apostoleris, age 23 of Miami, FL (New Milford, CT); Mario Castro, age 28 of New York, NY (Humacao, Puerto Rico); Andrew Leung, age 15 of California; Gina Ramirez, age 19 of Los Angeles, CA; Jordan Seigel, age 28 of Sherman Oaks, CA (Los Angeles, CA); Sara Sithi-Amnuai, age 22 of Los Angeles, CA (Australia); and Andrew Van Tassel, age 28 of New York, NY (Short Hills, NJ).
The Newport Festival Foundation will feature one of the recipients of the Herb Alpert Awards during the 2017 Newport Jazz Festival in August. The awards were established in 2002 to encourage young gifted jazz composers up to the age of 30 and carry the name of the great trumpeter and ASCAP member Herb Alpert in recognition of the Herb Alpert Foundation’s multi-year financial commitment to support this program. Additional funding for this program is provided by The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund. The ASCAP composer/judges for the 2017 competition were: Anat Cohen, Keyon Harrold, and Yosvany Terry.