JAZZ ARTS GROUP ANNOUNCES WINNER OF 2023 HANK MARR HIGH SCHOOL JAZZ AWARD

Jordan Steinbrook is Announced as the 2023 Hank Marr High School Jazz Award Recipient

The Jazz Arts Group of Columbus (JAG) has announced its winner of the 2023 Hank Marr High School Jazz Award – trumpeter Jordan Steinbrook. The award demonstrates excellence in musicianship and performance amongst young students of jazz in Ohio and comes with a cash prize of $500 along with an opportunity to perform with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra, led by Byron Stripling.

Each year, Jazz Arts Group hosts the Hank Marr High School Jazz Award to showcase Ohio’s top young jazz musicians and honor the late pianist and B3 organist Hank Marr. Beginning each year in the spring, high schoolers across the state prepare their audition recordings and send them in for three to four finalists to be chosen. These finalists gather at the Jazz Academy in the Lincoln Theatre in downtown Columbus to perform before a panel of professional musicians and educators. After individual and group performances among the three finalists, one excellent musician is chosen as that year’s Hank Marr High School Jazz Award Winner. The winner sees their name etched into the plaque alongside each triumphant awardee since 2003. They earn a $500 cash prize and a stack of Jamey Aebersold play-along books for both them and their school. Most exciting, the winner joins the Columbus Jazz Orchestra on stage for a once in a lifetime experience to play with the band in its annual summer concert series!

Jordan will perform with the Columbus Jazz Orchestra for a select JazZoo concert date at the Columbus Zoo and Aquarium this summer. 

Hank Marr:

Columbus music legend Hank Marr was one of the world’s masters of the Hammond B3 organ. Along with Hank’s celebrity status as a member of the jazz elite, he was a dedicated and gifted educator. In recognition of over fifty years as a performer, teacher, arranger and conductor, the Jazz Arts Group established the Hank Marr High School Jazz Award as a tribute to this special individual. His willingness to “pass it on” makes the encouragement of young jazz artists an important and meaningful activity. Support for the Hank Marr High School Jazz Award comes from Crabbe, Brown, and James, Jamey Aebersold Jazz, Stanton’s Sheet Music, and Jazz Education Connection of Ohio. Additional support comes from individual contributors who knew and loved Hank Marr.

The adjudicators for the competition were Tom Carroll, guitarist, retired Professor of Music at Denison University; Pete Mills, saxophonist, Professor at Denison University, member of the Columbus Jazz Orchestra; and George DeLancey, bassist and educator.

About the 2023 winner:

Jordan Steinbrook is a rising senior at Bexley High School. A multi-instumentalist who plays piano, trumpet, bass, and drum set, Jordan has participated in Jazz Arts Group’s Jazz Academy programming for 6 years, including summer camps and the Columbus Youth Jazz Program. He was selected for the 2023 OMEA All-State Jazz Ensemble and performed in the CYJO Legacy All-Star Big Band on JAG’s Jazz at the Lincoln concert series. A member of a student-led combo of Columbus Youth Jazz friends which performs regularly around the Columbus area, Jordan is excited to return to the Columbus Youth Jazz Orchestra in 2023-24.

Three students received runner-up awards from the competition; Fiona Sullivan, piano, Jacob Stange, bass, and Jett Gonzalez, saxophone. All four finalists have been active participants of the Columbus Youth Jazz program held at the Jazz Academy.