Jim Kahan Music Awardees
2023
Sid Perrett
Sid Perrett performed a selection of songs from his debut solo album, Dewiring Process: Live!
Sal Wallin
Sal Wallin, guitarist, presented an original collection of songs exploring the sonic language of art-song, folk, classical, and contemporary music.
2022
Zoe Marchand
Zoe will use the funds from the Kahan Award to write, record, and produce an eight to nine song album to be performed at a Friday at 4 in the fall of 2022.
Sarah Wu
Sarah will be a soloist with the Reed Orchestra in the fall of 2022. Sarah will use funds from the Kahan Award to study with Paloma Griffin Hébert and Inés Voglar Belgique, as well as rehearse with a pianist, in preparation for her solo debut with the Reed orchestra.
2021
Brewster Durbin
Brewster will create an album, Popgirl, a tribute to female pop stars of the early 2000s. In the fall, he will perform the album in a manner reminiscent of televised performances, such as those seen on late-night talk shows.
Diana Wang
Diana will study the shakuhachi, a Japanese end-blown bamboo flute, with Larry Tyrell, and the oud, a Middle Eastern lute, with Nat Hulskamp. She will work to expand her knowledge in Middle Easten and East Asian musicology.
2020
Henry Oberholtzer
Henry studied with Marek Poliks, Assistant Professor of Electronic Production & Design at Berkeley College and produced an album to showcase the aesthetics of live techno music. He composed works for a small ensemble of electronic instruments which culminated in a live performance where the role of musician and sound engineer meld. The performance demonstrated the process of working with synthesizers and rhythm machines.
2019
Rebecca Xie
Rebecca attended two separate songwriting workshops—one in New York, and one in LA—at which she developed songwriting techniques, picked up advice on commercial songwriting, and collaborated with fellow musicians. Over the remainder of the summer, Rebecca worked on an album-length series of songs, collectively titled Whispers on an Empty Stage, seven of which she presented in a concert in the fall of 2019.
2018
Elliot Menard
Elliot studied the pants role through its origins in European theater and opera history. Elliot attended NYU Steinhardt’s Classical Vocal Intensive program; worked with vocal coaches, Max Mamon and Kyle Ren, and took lessons from Kristin Gornstein, an active singer who frequently performs pants roles and works with companies devoted to producing powerful, relevant , and accessible opeas ( such as Heatbeat Opera and On Site Opera) as well as vocal teachers Kate Maroney and Michael Ricciardone. She performed a recital of pants role arias from operas by Mozart, Thomas, Gounod, Offenbach, Strauss, and Gluck.
2017
Henry DeMarais
Henry studied violin performance with Dr. David Fulmer, an internationally recognized composer, violinist and conductor in Pulaski, New York. Henry studied methods to bring out the artistry and beauty of works written in modern idioms. Henry performed a concert of 20th and 21st century music written for violin and piano.
2016
Gregor McGee
Gregor spent two weeks at the Baroque Performance Institute at Oberlin Conservatory studying harpsichord, clavichord, fortepiano, viola da gamba, and baroque dance. Gregor presented a concert of music for harpsichord written by Couperin, Rameau, Frescobaldi, and Harrison.
2015
Hannah McKenzie-Margulies
Hannah attended the Welbourne Jazz Camp in Middeburg, VA for a week of intensive, immersive study of traditional jazz clarinet technique and improvisation. Hannah performed a set of songs with a small traditional jazz combo.