John Zorn Receives Columbia University Honor

  I  

John Zorn has received Columbia University’s William Schuman Award. The prize, which honors American composers, comes with a direct, unrestricted, grant of $50,000.

“John Zorn’s astonishingly diverse and extraordinary body of work has enlightened, startled and enhanced it’s listeners,” said Dain Kleinman, acting dean of Columbia’s School of the Arts. “His lasting contribution to the repertoire of today has changed the landscape of composition.”



  • DB26_Joshua_Redman_Courtesy_Joshua_Redman.jpg

    A solo concert by saxophonist Joshua Redman will close the first night of the Hyde Park Jazz Festival on Sept. 26.

  • Coltrane_John_by_Joe_Alper_copy.jpeg

    “It was just that suddenly … I could hear it,” Ravi Coltrane said of an epiphany he experienced during his late teens regarding his father’s music. “And it was almost like a calling, like something saying, ‘Hey, man, come on. It’s time to get serious.’ And the first time you really tune in and dial in and focus like that, it can be very life-changing.”

  • Thurman_copy.jpeg

    Camille Thurman took to the stage alongside bassist Kenny Davis and drummer Tommy Campbell for a rendition of Johnny Mercer’s “I’m An Old Cowhand” that recalled Rollins’ epochal 1957 trio outing Way Out West.

  • DB26_Coltrane_legacy_copy.jpeg

    Record producer Bob Thiele’s classic photo that became the cover of John Coltrane’s landmark album A Love Supreme.

  • DB26_Terance_Blanchard_Ravi_Coltrane_By_Karen_Righi_copy.jpg

    Ravi Coltrane (right) makes a point during a live Blindfold Test at the Umbria Jazz Festival while pianist Greg Burk (far left), journalist Ashley Kahn and trumpeter Terence Blanchard listen.