Sunday, December 20, 2015

DC Jazz Festival Introduces DCJazzPrix - New National Competition

DC Jazz Festival at The Hamilton Live

From our friends at DC Jazz Festival...

The DC Jazz Festival Introduces DCJazzPrix

New national competition will recognize and support top rising jazz band talent

The DC Jazz Festival® (DC JazzFest) today announced the launch of DCJazzPrix, a national jazz band competition that aims to identify and showcase emerging and exceptional jazz band talent from across the U.S.  The event is designed to help launch and promote the careers of emerging jazz artists committed to sustained and creative band development and performance opportunities.

Providing a unique professional performance and adjudication platform for jazz bands that is outside of the traditional academic or commercial competition arenas, the Call for Applications and Guidelines for DCJazzPrix - including eligibility, review criteria, terms, registration payment and digital submission requirements - will be announced on January 7, 2016 at dcjazzprix.org. A prestigious panel will adjudicate with an array of criteria based on artistic merit and artistic excellence.


“We are excited to introduce DCJazzPrix, a national competition that adds yet more cultural significance to the DC Jazz Festival, and to the national jazz community,” said Artistic Director Willard Jenkins. “We envision the competition adding a bold new element to our festival, one which responds to the challenges lesser-known bands face when seeking inclusion in the major jazz festival circuit, even when they are clearly excellent and poised for greater exposure.”

The competition will offer a well-timed catalyst to elevate emerging jazz bands to a national festival platform by providing a substantial $15,000 cash prize and year-long association with the DC Jazz Festival to include: extensive public exposure; business support and career navigation services; and a main stage 2017 DC Jazz Festival paid engagement.

“DCJazzPrix is a natural extension of DC JazzFest’s cultural mission, and is a wonderful complement to the rich jazz legacy of Washington, DC” said Executive Director Sunny Sumter.

The fastest-growing jazz festival in the U.S., the DC Jazz Festival dates are June 10-19, 2016. For more information about the DC Jazz Festival, visit www.dcjazzfest.org.

Keep up with the DCJF:
Twitter: @dcjazzfest#DCJazzPrix
Instagram: @dcjazzfest

The DC Jazz Festival®, a 501(c)(3) non-profit service organization, is made possible, in part, with major grants from the Government of the District of Columbia, Muriel Bowser, Mayor; and, in part, by major grants from the Anne and Ronald J. Abramson Family Foundation, Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, Mayo Charitable Foundation and with grant support from the National Endowment for the Arts and the DC Commission on the Arts and Humanities, an agency supported in part by the National Endowment for the Arts; and by the City Fund, administered by The Community Foundation for the National Capital Region. ©2015 DC Jazz Festival. All rights reserved.