The deadline for the 2017 SAMRO Overseas Scholarships Competition for Keyboard Players is Friday, 26 May 2017.
This year’s competition is looking to unearth fresh, exciting Jazz or Western Art music Keyboard Players with the potential to compete in the global premier league. The closing date is fast approaching for music students and early-career professionals (32 and younger) to apply for one of the country’s most sought-after awards.Every year, rotating on a four-yearly cycle between composers, singers, keyboard players and instrumentalists, the SAMRO Foundation awards two scholarships worth R200 000 each for Jazz and Western art music, respectively. The previous winners of the Keyboard players round in 2013, Bokani Dyer (Jazz) and Jan Hugo (Western Art Music), have been making significant waves locally and internationally.
Every year, rotating on a four-yearly cycle between composers, singers, keyboard players and instrumentalists, the SAMRO Foundation awards two scholarships worth R200 000 each for Jazz and Western art music, respectively. The previous winners of the Keyboard players round in 2013, Bokani Dyer (Jazz) and Jan Hugo (Western Art Music), have been making significant waves locally and internationally.Dyer is a multi-award winning Motswana-South African pianist, composer and producer. His recent career highlights include playing at the opening of the London Jazz Festival (2015), showcasing his Trio at Jazzahead in Bremen, Germany (2016), headlining the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (2015) and an artistic residency at the Bird’s Eye jazz club in Basel, Switzerland (2014).
Dyer is a multi-award winning Motswana-South African pianist, composer and producer. His recent career highlights include playing at the opening of the London Jazz Festival (2015), showcasing his Trio at Jazzahead in Bremen, Germany (2016), headlining the Cape Town International Jazz Festival (2015) and an artistic residency at the Bird’s Eye jazz club in Basel, Switzerland (2014).Dyer has recorded three jazz albums – Mirrors (2010), Emancipate the Story (2011 – recorded during his time as Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year) and World Music (2015) which was nominated for Best Jazz Album at the 2016 South African Music Awards. Dyer is currently working on various projects with his father, legendary musician Steve Dyer, under the Dyertribe label. He is composing for his fourth album and will be co-directing an exciting collaboration project with artists from various Southern African countries.
Dyer has recorded three jazz albums – Mirrors (2010), Emancipate the Story (2011 – recorded during his time as Standard Bank Young Artist of the Year) and World Music (2015) which was nominated for Best Jazz Album at the 2016 South African Music Awards. Dyer is currently working on various projects with his father, legendary musician Steve Dyer, under the Dyertribe label. He is composing for his fourth album and will be co-directing an exciting collaboration project with artists from various Southern African countries.
Hugo won the second prize at the Alkan-P.J.G. Zimmerman International Piano Competition in Athens in April 2016 and was a finalist in the 2014 Royal Over-Seas League, a non-profit private members’ club dedicated to championing international friendship and understanding.
The SAMRO Overseas Scholarships competition takes place over three rounds: a preliminary round (in which a panel of adjudicators select the top candidates from the applications received), a semi-final round (in which the shortlisted Jazz and Western Art music candidates compete) and a final round, which will take the form of a public concert in Pretoria at UNISA’s ZK Matthews Hall on Saturday 26 August 2017, featuring performances by the top four finalists – two in each category.
To enter, aspiring candidates must download the regulations and the application form from the SAMRO Foundation website (www.samrofoundation.org.za). For more information, contact samrofoundation@samro.org.za or 011 712 8417.
The SAMRO Overseas Scholarship Competition is regarded as the country’s most lucrative music education award, with total prize money currently amounting to some R500 000 per year. Held since 1962, the competition rotates every year between awards for vocalists, instrumentalists, keyboard players (pianists and organists) and composers. At least four SAMRO Overseas Scholarship winners (Kesivan Naidoo, Ben Schoeman, Bokani Dyer and Avigail Bushkevitz) have also been recognised as Standard Bank Young Artist award recipients, and countless others have gone on to pursue successful professional careers as internationally renowned musicians. The main award in the Jazz and Western Art music categories currently stands at R200 000 each, to be used by the winners to further their music studies internationally or enrich themselves through master classes. Each year, candidates’ submissions are evaluated by a panel of adjudicators appointed from the top echelons of music academia and practitioners.