Saxophonist Alex Han Awarded Berklee Presidential Scholarship
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. — Alex Han, a Scottsdale, Arizona resident and saxophone winner in last year's Yamaha Young Performing Artist (YYPA) competition, was recently awarded The Berklee College of Music Presidential Scholarship.
Open to young musicians around the world, this special scholarship will only be offered for fours years and presented to five students annually. As a winner of this award, Han will receive full tuition, room and board and additional waived fees for all four years of his schooling. He will also receive an Apple Notebook computer worth upwards of $3,000.
The first of its kind to be offered by an American music college, the Presidential Scholarship program was established to bring the best young musicians in the world to study at Berklee at no cost to their families for all four years of their schooling.
Han, now 18, has been studying saxophone since age eight. A jazz artist and composer, he has performed at such prestigious venues as The Blue Note, The John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center, Gracie Mansion, Lincoln Center and a number of internationally recognized jazz festivals, including The Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, The North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland and last year's Monterey Jazz Festival in California.
At 14, Han released his first commercially available CD, Fourteen, began jazz piano studies and launched his website, www.alexhan.com. He has performed alongside many esteemed jazz artists, including Paquito D'Rivera, George Benson, Joe Lovano, Joey DeFrancesco, Nicholas Payton and Dave Valentin. In 2000, Han was one of two national recipients of the VSA arts Young Soloists Award. He was also honored in the 25th and 28th Annual DownBeat Student Music Awards for Jazz Soloist Outstanding Performance. More recently, Han was the recipient of the 2005/2006 ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award.
"It was an honor to be a part of YYPA," Han says. "The Yamaha staff was totally committed to making this a great experience for all of us. I highly recommend any serious musician to apply!"
Sponsored by Yamaha's Band & Orchestral Division, the YYPA program provides early career recognition for outstanding young musicians in the United States. Hundreds of applicants ages 16-21 apply annually and undergo a rigorous taped audition process for a panel of national celebrity musicians.
"Yamaha is extremely honored to play a role in the professional development of young musicians like Alex," states Yamaha's Band & Orchestral Division Education Manager John Wittmann. "We hope that YYPA can continue to boost the careers of its performers and look forward to seeing all of our young artists achieve the success that they deserve."
For more information on Alex Han, please visit his website at www.alexhan.com.
For more information about the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Program, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division, 39 West Jackson Place, Suite 150, Indianapolis, IN 46225; call (317) 524-6270; e-mail jwittmann@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/band.
About Yamaha:
Yamaha Corporation of America manufactures a complete line of musical instruments, professional audio products, customer-driven support products and computer-based products targeted to both the amateur and professional markets.
 Yamaha Young Performing Artist, Alex Han |
The first of its kind to be offered by an American music college, the Presidential Scholarship program was established to bring the best young musicians in the world to study at Berklee at no cost to their families for all four years of their schooling.
Han, now 18, has been studying saxophone since age eight. A jazz artist and composer, he has performed at such prestigious venues as The Blue Note, The John F. Kennedy Performing Arts Center, Gracie Mansion, Lincoln Center and a number of internationally recognized jazz festivals, including The Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, The North Sea Jazz Festival in Holland and last year's Monterey Jazz Festival in California.
At 14, Han released his first commercially available CD, Fourteen, began jazz piano studies and launched his website, www.alexhan.com. He has performed alongside many esteemed jazz artists, including Paquito D'Rivera, George Benson, Joe Lovano, Joey DeFrancesco, Nicholas Payton and Dave Valentin. In 2000, Han was one of two national recipients of the VSA arts Young Soloists Award. He was also honored in the 25th and 28th Annual DownBeat Student Music Awards for Jazz Soloist Outstanding Performance. More recently, Han was the recipient of the 2005/2006 ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award.
"It was an honor to be a part of YYPA," Han says. "The Yamaha staff was totally committed to making this a great experience for all of us. I highly recommend any serious musician to apply!"
Sponsored by Yamaha's Band & Orchestral Division, the YYPA program provides early career recognition for outstanding young musicians in the United States. Hundreds of applicants ages 16-21 apply annually and undergo a rigorous taped audition process for a panel of national celebrity musicians.
"Yamaha is extremely honored to play a role in the professional development of young musicians like Alex," states Yamaha's Band & Orchestral Division Education Manager John Wittmann. "We hope that YYPA can continue to boost the careers of its performers and look forward to seeing all of our young artists achieve the success that they deserve."
For more information on Alex Han, please visit his website at www.alexhan.com.
For more information about the Yamaha Young Performing Artists Program, write Yamaha Corporation of America, Band & Orchestral Division, 39 West Jackson Place, Suite 150, Indianapolis, IN 46225; call (317) 524-6270; e-mail jwittmann@yamaha.com; or visit www.yamaha.com/band.
About Yamaha:
Yamaha Corporation of America manufactures a complete line of musical instruments, professional audio products, customer-driven support products and computer-based products targeted to both the amateur and professional markets.
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