BMI Foundation to Award First David N. Baker Jazz Composition Scholarship
David N. Baker, Robbin Ahrold, and Tom Walsh finalize the David N. Baker Jazz Composition Scholarship at Indiana University Jacobs School of Music.
The BMI Foundation (BMIF) is pleased to announce that the newly instated David N. Baker Jazz Composition Scholarship will be awarded for the first time in the spring of 2016. Named in honor of NEA Jazz Master and educator David Baker, the $2,500 scholarship will be presented annually to a young composer enrolled in Jazz Studies at Baker’s alma mater and teaching institution, Indiana University (IU) Jacobs School of Music.
“Our new partnership with Jacobs School of Music celebrates David Baker’s outstanding achievements as a teacher, composer, and performer,” said BMIF President Deirdre Chadwick. “We are thrilled to bring much-deserved honor to his career while offering encouragement to young jazz writers who aspire to his level of creative expression.”
The program is supported by the BMIF Jazz Education Fund, established in 2011 through the generosity of retired BMI VP of Corporate Relations, BMIF Advisory Panelist, and Century Media Partners President Robbin Ahrold. The inaugural scholarship will be awarded to a full-time junior, senior, or graduate Jazz Studies student at Jacobs School of Music based on academic and artistic record. Candidates must be engaged in writing significant original work in the jazz idiom. The awardee will be named in April of 2016 and the scholarship presented later that month at the Jacobs School of Music’s annual legacy concert, Jazz Celebration.
David N. Baker performed as a trombonist with Lionel Hampton, J.J. Johnson, and George Russell. He also studied the cello, igniting a lifelong interest in classical composition and pedagogy. Baker is credited with more than 2,000 compositions (including jazz, orchestral, and chamber works), 500 commissions, 65 recordings, and 70 books, and has been honored with Pulitzer Prize and GRAMMY nominations and numerous awards, including an Emmy Award, NEA Jazz Masters Award, and Living Legend Award from the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. He currently serves as IU’s Distinguished Professor of Jazz Studies, as well as the director and president of multiple jazz institutions, including the International Association of Jazz Educators, Smithsonian Jazz Masterworks Orchestra, and National Jazz Service Organization.
To support the BMI Foundation Jazz Education Fund, please visit www.bmifoundation.org/donate.
The BMI Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 to encourage the creation, performance, and study of American music. The Foundation’s programs include competitive scholarships for songwriters and composers, operating grants for nonprofit arts presenters, and support for innovative music education initiatives in schools and communities across the country. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation may be made on our website. For exclusive news and content, follow @bmifoundation on Twitter at twitter.com/bmifoundation and like “BMI Foundation” on Facebook at facebook.com/bmifoundation.