Helen Sung Wins Big at BMI Jazz Composers Workshop Summer Showcase

  I  
Image

BMI’s Senior Director of Jazz and Musical Theatre Patrick Cook (left) with Musical Director Andy Farber, prize winner Helen Sung and Assistant Musical Director Alan Ferber at the 33rd Annual BMI Jazz Composers Workshop Summer Showcase, held June 13 at Dizzy’s in New York.

(Photo: Ezekiel Jeremiah for BMI)

BMI’s 33rd Annual Jazz Composers Workshop Summer Showcase, held June 13 at Dizzy’s Club in New York, featured the best new big band and jazz orchestra compositions created during the workshop’s 2021–’22 season. The evening was hosted by Musical Director Andy Farber and Assistant Musical Director Alan Ferber and judged by a panel of esteemed jazz musicians and composers including Michael Abene, Marcus Printup and Rufus Reid.

The BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra performed eight works, including “The Deep End” by Todd Anderson, “Vaqueiro” by Ann Belmont, “Water Lillies” by Patrick Cornelius, “The Goodtime Gardens” by Ethan Helm, “Summer’s Ending” by Mike Malone, “Tis Bottle” by Len Pierro and “Minor Feelings” by Rin Seo. After an evening of performances, Helen Sung’s “Jazz Portraits: II. Wayne Shorter” was chosen as the winning piece by the judges. In addition to receiving the prestigious Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize, the BMI Foundation also awarded Sung the $3,000 Manny Albam commission — named in memory of the workshop’s late founder and longtime music director — to compose a new piece that will premiere at next year’s showcase.

The evening concluded with 2021 prize recipients Chuck Iwanusa and Tracy Yang debuting their commissioned compositions, “No Man’s Land” and “Sea Swell (Scene Taiwan II).”

For more information on this renowned workshop and its history, click here. DB



  • 0c3c86_2fd4930d4a61477c8516238ae334ebb5~mv2_d_2000_1335_s_2_copy.jpeg

    Jim Rotondi was acclaimed for his wide, round trumpet tone, remarkable virtuosity and assured swing.

  • DB24_Charles_Lloyd_by_Douglas_Mason_at_New_Orleans_Jazz_Fest.jpg

    Charles Lloyd, seen here at the 2024 New Orleans Jazz & Heritage Festival, makes DownBeat Poll history!

  • DonWas_A1100547_byMyriamSantos_copy.jpg

    “Being president of Blue Note has been one of the coolest things that ever happened to me,” Was said. “It’s a gas to serve as one of the caretakers of that legacy.”

  • Century_Room_by_Travis_Jensen.jpg

    ​The Century Room in downtown Tucson, Arizona, was born in 2021.

  • Cecile_McLorin_Salvant_Ashley_Kahn_bu_David_Morresi_copy.jpg

    ​“She reminds me of my childhood and makes we want to cry,” Cécile McLorin Salvant, pictured here with writer Ashley Kahn, said of Dianne Reeves.


On Sale Now
August 2024
72nd Annual Critics Poll
Look Inside
Subscribe
Print | Digital | iPad