Five students have been named this year’s recipients of the Xerox Rochester International Jazz Festival/Eastman School of Music (XRIJF/ESM) Jazz Scholarship. The students hail from Maine, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania.
The scholarship program is sponsored by XRIJF producers John Nugent and Marc Iacona and is funded by proceeds from the annual festival. The scholarship was founded in 2003 and, with the current recipients, 39 scholarships will have been awarded since its inception.
The awards will be presented by Nugent and Iacona, along with Eastman Professor of Jazz Studies and Contemporary Media, Jeff Campbell, on Monday, June 26 at 7:30 pm, Gibbs Street Stage. The awards are part of the Festival’s mission to invest in the next generation of musicians, and support students attending the Eastman School of Music.
The 2017 scholarship winners include:
Yvonne Rogers, Penobscot, Maine
Admitted to both the College of Arts and Sciences and the Eastman School of Music as a Dual Degree student. Will be majoring in Jazz Performance, Piano at Eastman.
Attended New York University’s Summer Jazz Improvisation Workshop and was the 2016 recipient of Maine Music Educators Association’s Outstanding Musicianship Award
Ryan Barski, Pittsford, New York
Will be majoring in Jazz Performance, Drum Set
Attended the Summer Jazz Studies at the Eastman School of Music and was a member of Honeoye Falls-Lima High School Jazz Ensemble which received a Superior Rating at the 2016 Virginia Beach Music Festival
Jamal Kemp, Kutztown, Pennsylvania
Will be majoring in Jazz Performance, Trumpet
Attended summer jazz programs at the Eastman School of Music and Berklee and received Best Brass Soloist at the 2014 and 2016 SteelStacks High School Band Showcase
Maxwell Caine, Ridgewood, New Jersey
Will be majoring in Jazz Performance, Guitar
Attended Rutgers Summer Jazz Institute and selected to perform in the 2017 All Eastern Jazz Ensemble
Dylan Ocorr, Fairport, New York
Attended Summer Jazz Studies at the Eastman School as Music and Litchfield Jazz Camp and performed at the Rochester International Jazz Festival multiple times as part of the Eastman Youth Jazz Orchestra, various combo groups, and the Charles Finney Jazz Band
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