The ASCAP Foundation has announced the recipients of its 2022 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards. Established in 2002, the program recognizes gifted young jazz composers up to the age of 30. It carries the name of the great trumpeter and ASCAP member Herb Alpert in recognition of The Herb Alpert Foundation’s multi-year financial commitment to the program, which began in 2012. The recipients, who receive cash awards, are selected through a juried national competition.
"We are so proud to recognize the 2022 ASCAP Foundation Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award recipients and to celebrate 10 years of generous support from The Herb Alpert Foundation," said ASCAP Foundation President Paul Williams. "These emerging voices are taking their music in creative new directions, and we deeply appreciate the Herb Alpert Foundation for helping to nurture the craft of jazz with this enduring partnership.”
The 2022 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award recipients are listed below with their age, current residence and place of origin. If under 18, only the age and state of residence is listed:
Evan Abounassar, age 22 of Los Angeles, CA (Yorba Linda, CA); Ben Beckman, age 21 of New Haven, CT (Los Angeles, CA); Sonya Belaya, age 27 of Brooklyn, NY (Southeastern MI); Max Bessesen, age 27 of New York, NY(Denver, CO); Gabriel Chakarji, age 28 of Brooklyn, NY(Caracas, Venezuela); Jessica Curran, age 28 of Boston, MA ( Sandwich, MA); Kira Daglio Fine, age 25 of Boston, MA; Sebastian de Urquiza, age 29 of New York, NY (Buenos Aires, Argentina); Michael R. Dudley Jr., age 27 of Potsdam, NY (Cincinatti, OH); Joseph Durben, age 18 of Buffalo, MN; Quinn Dymalski, age 23 of Los Angeles, CA (Park City, UT); Conner Eisenmenger, age 29 of Seattle, WA (Louisville, KY); Eliana Fishbeyn, age 25 of New York, NY(Chapel Hill, NC); Brandon Goldberg, age 16 of FL; Vicente Hansen, age 29 of Brooklyn, NY(Santiago, Chile); Ennis Suavengco Harris, age 23 of Los Angeles, CA (Exeter, CA); Daiki Nakajima, age 19 of San Jose, CA (Tokyo, Japan); Yu Nishiyama, age 27 of Hawthorne, NJ (Yokohama, Japan); Robert Perez, age 29 of Los Angeles, CA (Chino Hills, CA); Gary (Kaiji) Wang, age 26 of Miami, FL (Beijing, China); and Griffin Woodard, age 23 of Boston, MA (Bethlehem, PA).
Composers receiving Honorable Mention this year are: Claire Dickson, age 25 of Brooklyn, NY (Medford, MA); Michael Echaniz, age 27 of Los Angeles, CA (Oakland, CA); Amanda Ekery, age 27 of New York, NY (El Paso, TX); Chase Elodia, age 27 of Brooklyn, NY (Norwalk, CT); Peyton Nelesen, age 14 of CA; and Malcolm Xiellie, age 14 of CA.
Through a partnership with the Newport Festivals Foundation, one of this year’s Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Awards recipients will be featured by the Newport Jazz Festival.
The ASCAP composer/judges for the 2022 competition were: Fabian Almazan, Chuck Owen and Camille Thurman.
Additional funding for the program is provided by The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund.
