For over thirty years, the Jacksonville Piano Competition presented by Keyboard Connection – The Piano Place has been a cherished tradition at the jazz fest. This event remains one of the most thrilling musical spectacles around!
Five finalists, representing the pinnacle of jazz pianists worldwide, are selected by a blind panel of judges to vie for a cash prize and the opportunity to perform on the Met Park stage presented by Publix at this year’s festival. This intense competition has become a cornerstone of the festival, beloved by many as a chance to witness extraordinary emerging talents in the jazz scene.
Renowned jazz legends like Marcus Roberts, Brian Culbertson, Christian Sands, Jason Miles, Joey Calderazzo, Lynne Arriale, Dr. John, Per Danielsson, John Thomas, and others have graced the judging panel in the past, adding to the prestige and excitement of the event.
In addition to the award, the competition winner will perform on Saturday of the Jacksonville Jazz Festival. Performance by the winner on this day is required, as the cash award will be provided at the conclusion of the performance. Each finalist will also receive two complimentary VIP Jacksonville Jazz Festival passes.
Master of Ceremonies
DRUMS
BASS
The Jacksonville Jazz Festival Piano Competition presented by Keyboard Connection – The Piano Place has been a Jacksonville tradition for more than 30 years. The competition, hosted by the City of Jacksonville Division of Sports and Entertainment, will take place on Thursday, May 25, 2023 at The Florida Theatre, where five finalists, chosen through a “blind” judging process in March, will compete for the honor of this award. The winner will receive a monetary prize and will perform at the Jacksonville Jazz Festival.
In addition to the award, the competition winner will perform in the Jacksonville Jazz Festival on Sunday, May 28. Performance by the winner on this day is required, as the cash award will be provided at the conclusion of the performance. Each finalist will receive two complimentary VIP Jacksonville Jazz Festival passes for Friday, May 26 – Sunday, May 28, 2023.
For over thirty years, the Jacksonville Piano Competition presented by Keyboard Connection – The Piano Place has been a jazz fest tradition. The event continues to be one of the most exciting musical spectacles to be seen anywhere!
Five finalists representing the very best jazz pianists in the world are chosen by a blind panel of judges to compete for a cash prize and a chance to perform on the Main Stage at this year’s festival. This fierce competition has become an integral part of the festival and a favorite among many eager to witness some of the most incredible rising talents in the jazz world.
Past judges have included jazz legends such as Marcus Roberts, Brian Culbertson, Jason Miles, Joey Calderazzo, Lynne Arriale, Dr. John, Per Danielsson, John Thomas, and other well-known jazz musicians.
Tickets to the Jacksonville Jazz Piano Competition presented by Keyboard Connection – The Piano Place will be on sale soon. Admission is included with the purchase of a VIP Full Festival Experience Package.
Described as “extraordinarily talented” by Houston Public Media, Tomás Jonsson (www.musicbytomas.com) is a highly sought-after pianist and composer in the DFW and Houston music scenes. He is a regular in the studio and is known for his ability to perform with any lineup, in any genre, for any audience. Tomás has performed or recorded with celebrated artists including Benny Benack III, Caity Gyorgy, Jane Monheit, Michael Dease, Rodney Whitaker, Nick Finzer, and Rosana Eckert. He is fluent in classical, jazz, and Afro-Latin styles, and his service in historically-Black Baptist churches has infused his playing with a gospel sensibility that is uncommon for a classically trained musician. In November of 2021, he released Four Songs without Words for piano, violin, and percussion, inspired by the majesty of the human voice. In February of 2022, he released his debut album, First Impressions, exclusively compromised of original compositions, recorded, mixed, and mastered totally independently. This year, he looks forward to releasing two original songs recorded with his trio: Espressivo featuring Benny Benack III and Close to You featuring Caity Gyorgy. Tomás has studied music since the age of 5 and has earned recognition for his abilities in classical piano, jazz piano, and composition. In 2022, he graduated from Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music with a Bachelor’s Degree in Music (Classical Piano Performance) under the guidance of Brian Connelly. He is currently pursuing a Master’s Degree in Jazz Studies at The University of North Texas under the guidance of Dave Meder.
New York-based pianist, composer, arranger and educator, Caili O’Doherty (pronounced “KAY-lee” “oh-DOE-er-tee”), is known for integrating structures of language in both her compositions and her approach to improvisation. O’Doherty has received national awards for piano performance and composition from the ASCAP Foundation and Downbeat Magazine.
Praised by All About Jazz for its “exquisitely forged, dramatic and darkly hued pieces”, O’Doherty’s debut release Padme (2015) uses lyrics to give the melodies a natural rhythm of language. The latest release from O’Doherty is Quarantine Dream (Posi-Tone Records 2022) and was followed by a U.S. CD release tour with support from a Jazz Road grant from South Arts.
The Caili O’Doherty Quintet was selected by the U.S. Department of State as one of ten ensembles to participate in the 2022-23 American Music Abroad U.S. State Department tour to the Republic of Georgia and Canada. Also in 2022, O’Doherty was one of ten artists to receive a Chamber Music America New Jazz Works Grant, which funds the creation of a new original work. In 2021, O’Doherty received a Chamber Music America Presenters Consortium for Jazz Grant to present her project, “Caili O’Doherty: Celebrating Lil Hardin Armstrong”, featuring her arrangements of compositions by Lil Hardin Armstrong.
O’Doherty is currently on the faculty at Purchase College Conservatory of Music, Jazz House Kids and Savannah Music Festival Jazz Academy. She is a graduate of Berklee College of Music (BM ’13) and Aaron Copland School of Music at Queens College (MM ’19). Caili is a Nord Keyboard Artist.
Born and raised in Lecco (Italy), Andrea Domenici is a jazz pianist and composer who has been living in New York since 2012. At the beginning of his career he won the first edition of the “Premio Gianni Basso” as best soloist and the first prize of the La Spezia Jazz Competition as the best piano player. A 2016 graduate from The New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music, Domenici studied with great piano players such as Benny Green, Barry Harris, Kenny Barron, Dado Moroni, Rossano Sportiello and Mario Rusca.
Since Domenici has moved to New York, he collaborated and shared the stage with: Harry Allen, Wynton Marsalis, Gary Bartz, Louis Hayes, Kenny Washington, James Morrison, Etienne Charles, Eddie Henderson, Billy Drummond, Peter Washington, Roy Hargrove, Carol Fredette, Billy Harper, Dave Glasser, Charles Tolliver, Jimmy Owens, Wayne Escoffery, Dave Kikoski, Dave Douglas, James Carter and many more. Andrea Domenici performed in the most prestigious venues of New York City: Jazz at Lincoln Center, Dizzy’s Club Coca Cola, Smalls, Mezzrow, Smoke Jazz Club, Zinc Bar, Peter Jay Sharp Theater… Andrea Domenici has played all over the world. In 2017 he has played at the Festival Internacional de Música in Cancun, Mexico. Andrea Domenici was also called to do a week residency at the prestigious Marrians Jazzroom in Bern with The David Adewumi’s Quartet.
Andrea Domenici recently graduated from The Juilliard School with MM in Jazz Studies where his talent as a composer and arranger is truly appreciated. He recently released his album entitled “Playing Who I am” which features Peter Washington on bass and Billy Drummond on drums.
Born into a musical household in Teaneck, NJ, Caelan Cardello began playing piano at the age of 5. By the age of 10 he was studying both jazz and classical separately with jazz pianist/arranger Allen Farnham and Juilliard Alum. Steven Masi. In his early years, Caelan had the opportunity to perform for/ play with jazz idols such as Christian McBride, Jimmy Cobb, Brad Mehldau, and Wynton Marsalis. He was a part of the organization Jazz House Kids for 7 years, in which he got the opportunity to learn from the greatest jazz masters and perform at venues such as Dizzy’s Club and the Montclair Jazz Festival. Caelan has performed at venues in NYC such as Smoke Jazz Club, Mintons, The Jazz Standard, and Smalls as well as the Detroit Jazz Festival, Bahrain Jazz Festival, Omaha Jazz on Green and Montclair Jazz Festival. Other accolades include 2022 Finalist for the American Pianists Association Jazz Competition, 2021 winner of the BMI Foundation’s Future Jazz Master award, 2018 recipient of the prestigious James Moody Scholarship, winner for regional National Young Arts, and 2016,17 All State Jazz Band pianist. Caelan recently graduated from William Paterson University with his Bachelor’s degree in Jazz Piano Performance. He currently studies with David Kikoski, and has previously studied with Bill Charlap, Harold Mabern, Vincent Herring and Mike Ledonne. Caelan currently lives in Jersey City and plays regularly around the tri-state area.
Jenny Xu (b.1996) is a Canadian pianist, composer and educator currently based in New York City. She is an alumna of Berklee College of Music (BM ’16, summa cum laude), the Manhattan School of Music (MM ’19, summa cum laude), as well as the Royal Conservatory of Music (ARCT ‘13, with honors). In addition to regular appearances as both a leader and sideman on the NYC jazz scene, she presently serves on the faculties of several distinguished music institutions such as the Stanford Jazz Workshop, Larchmont Music Academy and Smith School of Music.
Best known for her work with FRIENDSHIP, her brain-child trio, Jenny’s group boasts two critically acclaimed tours and two albums of her original music: Project Sock Retrieval (October 2020) and Ghost Stories (February 2021). In 2018, she self-released her first two albums as leader: Standards Vol. 1 and Live at the Silk Purse. Both of which feature Canadian heavyweights André Lachance (bass) and Bernie Arai (drums) as sidemen. Multi-Juno Award winner Campbell Ryga (sax) makes a special guest appearance on Standards Vol. 1.
Jenny is a recipient of numerous awards and accolades including the MSM Outreach Award (2019), Stingray Rising Star Award (2018), Downbeat Award (2018), Berklee Jazz Performance Award recipient (2016), Dal Richard’s Scholarship (2014), Yamaha Kando Award (2014) and was the first individual ever offered a full renewable scholarship to Humber College in Toronto.
Throughout her career, she has had the immense privilege of studying under Buster Williams, Ingrid Jensen, George Garzone, Eddie Gomez, Dayna Stephens, Kendrick Scott, Dave Liebman, Kenny Werner, The New York Voices, Paquito D’Rivera and Arturo O’Farrill. As a performer, Jenny has shared the stage with the likes of Buster Williams, George Garzone and Cándido Camero and has opened for jazz greats such as Herbie Hancock and Harold Mabern.
