The ASCAP Foundation announces the recipients of the 2024 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. The recipients, who receive cash awards, are selected through a juried national competition.
“The Herb Alpert Foundation’s continued support of this program is paving the way for emerging jazz composers,” said ASCAP Foundation President Paul Williams. “These talented young music creators are infusing the ever-evolving jazz landscape with endless new creative possibilities, and we are honored to be a part of their musical journey.”
“The ASCAP Foundation is proud to recognize these up-and-coming music creators as they continue to cultivate their craft,” said ASCAP Foundation Executive Director Nicole George-Middleton. “For over a decade, we’ve been able to uplift aspiring jazz composers with the generous support of The Herb Alpert Foundation. We look forward to continuing to discover, celebrate and nurture the musical talent of tomorrow together.”
The 2024 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award recipients are listed below with their age, current residence and place of origin:
Dave Adewumi, age 29 of New York, NY (Manchester, NH); Eric Banitt, age 24 of Marquette, MI; Sonya Belaya, age 29 of Brooklyn, NY (Melbourne, FL); Joe Block, age 24 of New York, NY (Philadelphia, PA); Stephen Byth, age 29 of Ridgewood, NY (Melbourne, Australia); Amanda Ekery, age 29 of Brooklyn, NY (El Paso, TX); Alden Hellmuth, age 29 of Los Angeles, CA (Hartford, CT); Joseph Herbst, age 29 of New York, NY (Easley, SC); Tom Kelley, age 30 of Brooklyn, NY (Canton, CT); Alex Laurenzi, age 25 of New York, NY (Mountain Lakes, NJ); Sergio de Miguel, age 21 of Chicago, IL (Vigo, Spain); Daiki Nakajima, age 21 of San Jose, CA (Tokyo, Japan); Sebastian Rios, age 27 of New York, NY (Miami, FL); Yvonne Rogers, age 24 of Brooklyn, NY (Penobscot, ME); and Immanuel Wilkins, age 26 of New York, NY (Philadelphia, PA).
Composers receiving Honorable Mention this year are: Joey Curreri, age 23 of New York, NY (Los Angeles, CA); Quinn Dymalski, age 25 of Los Angeles, CA (Park City, UT); Arta Jēkabsone, age 29 of Brooklyn, NY (Kandava, Latvia); Zach Luginbill, age 20 of Eau Claire, WI; Rockwell Shapiro, age 19 of Baltimore, MD (Chicago, IL); Denin Slage-Koch, age 28 of Knoxville, TN (Richland, WA); Will Tucker, age 18 of New York, NY (Larchmont, NY); April Varner, age 27 of New York, NY (Toledo, OH) and Kevin Zapata, age 27 of Ft. Worth, TX (Nederland, TX).
The ASCAP composers who judged the 2024 competition were: Roxy Coss, ELEW / Eric Lewis and Kavita Shah.
Additional funding for the program is provided by The ASCAP Foundation Bart Howard Fund.
