# Emmet Cohen takes first prize at the 2019 American pianists Awards: Video

- Link: https://jazzblues.eu/2019/04/10/emmet-cohen-takes-first-prize-at-the-2019-american-pianists-awards-video/
- Published: 2019-04-10T14:45:28+01:00
- Author: https://JazzBlues.EU

**Emmet Cohen is the winner of the 2019 American Pianists Awards, one of the most
prestigious events of its kind.**

Cohen, 28, hails from New York City, where he earned a masters degree from the Manhattan
School of Music. He has released several albums, including _[Dirty in Detroit](http://emmetcohen.com/dirty-in-detroit),
_released last year. He will appear at [Dizzy’s Club Coca-Cola](https://www.jazz.org/dizzys)
on April 16, with his trio.

The five APA finalists — Cohen, Kenny Banks, Jr., Keelan Dimick, Dave Meder, and
Billy Test — made a strong showing in the finals at the Hilbert Circle Theater in
Indianapolis on Saturday night. First they each accompanied singer Kurt Elling, 
performing a Cole Porter song. Then they took turns with the Buselli-Wallarab Jazz
Orchestra, playing arrangements of jazz standards. The evening’s master of ceremonies
was NEA Jazz Master Dee Dee Bridgewater.

The finalists were judged by a blue-chip panel: jazz pianists Stanley Cowell, Renee
Rosnes and Helen Sung; Chris Mees, founder and president of the management company
B-Natural, Inc.; and Will Wakefield, senior director of A&R at Mack Avenue Records.

As the winner, Cohen will receive the Cole Porter Jazz Fellowship, worth an estimated
value of more than $100,000. This includes a cash award, a contract with Mack Avenue,
and two years of career services and support.

The [American Pianists Association](https://www.americanpianists.org/), which has
been based in Indianapolis since 1982, holds an award every two years. They alternate
between jazz and classical music, which means the jazz award occurs with the frequency
of presidential elections or Olympic summer games.

The APA finalists have been involved in competition, in one form or another, for
a period of months. During the premiere series, which began last year, each pianist
separately traveled to Indianapolis for a solo engagement and three-day educational
residency. All five players also participated in the club finals at the Jazz Kitchen
on Friday night.

Past winners of the Cole Porter Fellowship include some of the leading pianists 
in modern jazz — most recently Sullivan Fortner, Aaron Diehl and Dan Tepfer. Cohen
has competed in the two previous editions of the competition, in 2015 and 2011.

![Emmet Cohen performing at the 2019 American Pianists Association Awards, April
7, 2019](https://i0.wp.com/www.wbgo.org/sites/wbgo/files/styles/medium/public/201904/
apa_finals_2019__2019_mark_sheldon-0499.jpg?w=640&ssl=1)

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