June 24, 2025
NEW YORK, NY (JUNE 24, 2025) - BMI‘s 36th Annual Jazz Composers Workshop Summer Showcase, held at Leonard Nimoy Thalia Theatre at Symphony Space in New York City on June 20th, featured some of the best new big band and jazz orchestra compositions created in the workshop during the 2024-2025 season. The evening was hosted by Musical Director Andy Farber and Assistant Musical Director Alan Ferber and judged by a panel of esteemed jazz musicians and composers; Adam Birnbaum, Dave Douglas and Scott Healy.
The BMI/New York Jazz Orchestra performed eight works, including: “Dust Storm” by Ben Morris, “Where is My Home, Mvt 1” by Migiwa Miyajima, “You Were You (But I Was Me)” by Arnie Sainz, “A Thoughtful Cat” by Jay Brandford, “Infidels” by Michael R. Dudley Jr., “Big Sushi” by Meg Okura, “The Sea is All Yours” by Naoya Ogura and “E.M.I.D.” by David Sneider. After an evening of incredible performances, Michael R. Dudley Jr.’s “Infidels” was chosen as the winning piece by the judges. Dudley was unable to attend the event in person, and Ferber accepted the award on their behalf. In addition to receiving the prestigious Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize, the BMI Foundation also awarded Dudley the $3,000 Manny Albam commission—named in memory of the workshop’s late founder and longtime music director—to compose a new piece that will premiere at next year’s showcase.
The evening concluded with 2024 Charlie Parker Jazz Composition Prize recipient Takumi Kakimoto debuting his commissioned composition, “Chasing the Horizon.”
For more information on this renowned workshop and its history, click here.
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Celebrating over 80 years of service to songwriters, composers, music publishers and businesses, BMI® is a global leader in music rights management, serving as an advocate for the value of music. BMI represents the public performance rights in over 22.4 million musical works created and owned by more than 1.4 million songwriters, composers, and music publishers. The Company negotiates music license agreements and distributes the fees it generates as royalties to its affiliated writers and publishers when their songs are performed in public. In 1939, BMI created a groundbreaking open-door policy becoming the only performing rights organization to welcome and represent the creators of blues, jazz, country, and American roots music. Today, the musical compositions in BMI’s repertoire, from chart toppers to perennial favorites, span all genres of music and are consistently among the most-performed hits of the year. For additional information and the latest BMI news, visit bmi.com, follow us on X and Instagram @BMI or stay connected through BMI’s Facebook page. Sign up for BMI’s The Weekly™ and receive our e-newsletter every week to stay up to date on all things music.
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