BMI Foundation Presents 10th Annual BMI Future Jazz Masters Award to Composer and Multi-Instrumentalist Anton Kot

BMI Foundation, Inc. has named composer and multi-instrumentalist Anton Kot as the winner of the 10th Annual BMI Future Jazz Masters Award, with composer and pianist Warren Pettey receiving an honorable mention. The announcement was made at a private event co-hosted by BMI and the National Endowment for the Arts (NEA) in celebration of the Jazz Masters Fellows in Washington, D.C. During the course of the evening, BMI’s Director of Musical Theatre and Jazz, Pat Cook, presented awards to revered saxophonist Marshall Allen and pianist and composer Marilyn Crispell.

Upon receiving the award, Anton Kot stated, “Receiving the BMI Future Jazz Master Award is an honor that propels my passion for creating, performing, and writing music. Jazz is an ever-evolving art form, and I’m thrilled to continue growing within it through new communities such as BMI and its remarkable network of creative masters.” He continued, “This recognition will support my ongoing pursuit of exploring my own imaginations inspired by daily life, while developing a creative and positive dialogue through music as a language to those around me and beyond. Thank you for your encouragement and support in my artistic journey.”

The BMI Future Jazz Master Award is a $5,000 career grant created in 2015 through a gift from BMI in honor of the long-standing NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship program for jazz artists. The award is augmented by The Ahrold Family Commission, a $1,500 commission for a new work that is generously funded by Robbin and Kyle Ahrold. Robbin Ahrold previously served as Vice President, Corporate Relations at BMI and was the originator of the longstanding partnership between the NEA Jazz Master Awards and BMI.

The award recipient is chosen based on three selections of their work, at least one of which must be an original composition. Adjudication for this national competition is based on both performance artistry and compositional ability. Judges for the 2025 Future Jazz Masters award included NEA Jazz Masters Terri Lyne Carrington and Delfeayo Marsalis.

About Anton Kot
Anton Kot is a composer and multi-instrumentalist (piano, drums, gamelan) who combines elements of contemporary genres with the jazz idiom. He premiered his commissioned piano concerto, “Let’s Try This,” with the New Haven Symphony at the International Festival of Arts & Ideas (2022) and commissioned jazz quartet piece, “Haven’t Heard Back,” at Berkshires Jazz (2023). As a bandleader, he’s headlined the Pittsfield CityJazz, Litchfield Jazz, and Bronx River Sounds Streams of Black Music festivals, while performing as a sideman globally including Carnegie Hall, National Centre for the Performing Arts (Beijing,China), International Gamelan Festival (Solo, Indonesia), and stages in Abu Dhabi, Paris, and Warsaw.

Recent accomplishments include the YoungArts X Anthropologie Leading with Creativity Award (2023), the inaugural year-long Honeywell Fellowship (2024), a Ravinia’s Steans Institute fellow (2024), and participant in the Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency (2024). An NYU alumnus, Kot is a current Juilliard School graduate student.

About Warren Pettey
Warren, born in 2000 just south of Boston, began his piano studies at the age of five. By his early teens, he was already performing professionally and studying under prominent mentors like Hal Crook. In 2016, he was awarded the prestigious Presidential Scholarship from Berklee College of Music, granted to only seven students out of over 5,000 applicants. By the age of 20, Warren had established a distinguished discography, contributing as a performer, recording artist, and mixer for major labels such as Warner Music and PBS. With over 100 albums to his credit, he has performed at renowned venues worldwide and collaborated with jazz luminaries. Currently based in Los Angeles, Warren continues to perform, tour internationally, and work as a recording and mixing engineer for Hans Zimmer’s Bleeding Fingers.

Bottom row: BMI composers and 2025 NEA Jazz Master honorees Marshall Allen and Marilyn Crispell with (top row) 2025 BMI Future Jazz Masters Award Winner Anton Kot, BMI Foundation President Deirdre Chadwick and BMI Senior Director of Musical Theatre & Jazz Patrick Cook. Photo: Jati Lindsay, courtesy of the National Endowment for the Arts.