Press Release

For Immediate Release:
February 24, 2006

Pianist Dan Tepfer ’05 M.M. Takes First, Bassist Haggai Cohen Milo ’09 Wins Second Prize

Grace Kelly, 13-year old NEC Prep Saxophonist, Wins Third Place and Plans Scullers CD Release Party

Boston, MA--New England Conservatory trained jazz musicians swept the Fish Middleton Jazz Scholarship Competition held at the East Coast Jazz Festival, Feb. 16--20 in Rockville, Maryland. Pianist Dan Tepfer ’05 M.M., who came to NEC from Paris to study, took first prize. Double bassist Haggai Cohen Milo ‘09, a student from Israel, took second prize.

The precocious Grace Kelly, a 13-year old saxophonist, singer, and songwriter who trains in NEC’s Preparatory School, won third prize. Competing in the semi-finals against nine other musicians all college age or older, Kelly, who lives in Brookline, won $1500. She studies saxophone at NEC with Jeremy Udden, voice with Rebecca Shrimpton, and jazz ensemble with Rick McLaughlin. She also studies with veteran “cool jazz” saxophonist Lee Konitz. An eighth grader at the Driscoll Elementary School, Kelly will be the headliner at Scullers Jazz Club, March 14 when she plays music from her new CD Grace Kelly Times Two.

Already enormously experienced, Kelly has been performing for the last three years in major venues in Boston and New York including Scullers, the Regatta Bar, Dizzy’s Club Cocoa Cola, and others. Among the musicians she has recorded or performed with are Jerry Bergonzi, John Lockwood, Yoron Israel, Terry Lyn Carrington, and Bo and Bill Winiker. Last fall, she was one of the featured performers in NEC’s first Preparatory School gala, “Kids in Harmony.” She released her first CD, Dreaming, in 2005; it contained six original compositions ranging from jazz and folk to pop.

Named after Elmore "Fish" Middleton, a Washington, DC jazz radio programmer who dedicated himself to promoting jazz and emerging jazz artists, the FMJS is designed to assist young jazz musicians in their educational and artistic development; to offer a wider base for the presentation of jazz; and to insure the continuation of jazz education and performance in public schools and institutions of higher learning.

Informing friends of her prize-winning performance, Kelly wrote: “There is no age limit for the competition. As a result the other nine semi-finalists were all at least in college, and some had already graduated…and they were all amaaaazing. A bit intimidating, if you ask me. We played in front of four judges and about 300 people. After it was over and they announced the three finalist winners, I was really quite shocked to hear my name called…I had such a great time at the festival and met so many nice people. The cool thing is that because I was one of the winners, I get to go back next year as a performer at the festival.”

For more information, visit NEC on the web at www.newenglandconservatory.edu/prep/index.html

Or visit Grace Kelly’s website at:
www.gracekellymusic.com

ABOUT NEW ENGLAND CONSERVATORY

Recognized nationally and internationally as a leader among music schools, New England Conservatory offers rigorous training in an intimate, nurturing community to 750 undergraduate, graduate, and doctoral music students from around the world. Its faculty of 225 boasts internationally esteemed artist-teachers and scholars. Its alumni go on to fill orchestra chairs, concert hall stages, jazz clubs, recording studios, and arts management positions worldwide. Nearly half of the Boston Symphony Orchestra is composed of NEC trained musicians and faculty.

The oldest independent school of music in the United States, NEC was founded in 1867 by Eben Tourjee. Its curriculum is remarkable for its wide range of styles and traditions. On the college level, it features training in classical, jazz, Contemporary Improvisation, world and early music. Through its Preparatory School, School of Continuing Education, and Community Collaboration Programs, it provides training and performance opportunities for children, pre-college students, adults, and seniors. Through its outreach projects, it allows young musicians to engage with non-traditional audiences in schools, hospitals, and nursing homes—thereby bringing pleasure to new listeners and enlarging the universe for classical music and jazz.

NEC presents more than 600 free concerts each year, many of them in Jordan Hall, its world- renowned, 100-year old, beautifully restored concert hall. These programs range from solo recitals to chamber music to orchestral programs to jazz and opera scenes. Every year, NEC’s opera studies department also presents two fully staged opera productions at the Cutler Majestic Theatre in Boston.

NEC is co-founder and educational partner of “From the Top,” a weekly radio program that celebrates outstanding young classical musicians from the entire country. With its broadcast home in Jordan Hall, the show is now carried by National Public Radio and is heard on 250 stations throughout the United States.