Honoring the memory of John Stites and his passion for jazz music

2021 John Stites Jazz Award Winners Announcement

Posted December 29, 2021

The Board of the John Stites Jazz Artist Organization is pleased to announce the 2021 John Stites Jazz Award winners:

Benje Daneman/The Gibran Project – Research the life of Kahlil Gibran with the objective of creating a musical set reflective of his life to be debuted by Mr. Daneman’s band in December 2022.
Larry Brown/South Haven Jazz Festival – Sponsor the performance of internationally known trumpeter Wayne Bergeron at the 5th Annual South Haven Jazz Festival.
Dann Sytsma/Jazz Series at Kalamazoo Nonprofit Advocacy Coalition (KNAC) – Sponsor the John Stites Jazz Series, a series of 8-10 performances featuring national touring jazz musicians in a club style venue.
Suzanne/Weeldreyer/Branford Marsalis Residency with the Kalamazoo Symphony Orchestra – Bring the story of jazz to children through a commissioned book and performance project in collaboration with Branford Marsalis.

The applications were scored by an independent Review Committee composed of professional jazz musicians with national and international experience. The winning projects were diverse in scope and truly outstanding. They exemplified John’s commitment to maintaining a high standard of excellence, while bringing something unique to the musical community.

The JSJA awarded over $60,000 in 2021. Applicants who did not win are encouraged to revise and submit their applications for consideration during the 2022 award cycles. The JSJA plans to award up to $100,000 to another group of outstanding applicants in 2022. Information on the 2022 award cycles will be available on the JSJA website sometime in late January/early February.

The Board of the JSJAO thanks all the applicants for their participation in the inaugural JSJA award cycle and we look forward to receiving the 2022 submissions. We encourage anyone with an idea that supports professional exceptionalism in jazz music, expands public awareness and appreciation of jazz music, or offers performance events or projects that bring jazz experiences to the community to apply.

Doug Decker
Tom Knific
Bill McCarty
Ken Morgan
Sandy Schaefer

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John loved music with all his heart and was the ideal recording engineer – a profession into which he poured all his considerable talents and artistry.

Dan Gustin

The John Stites Jazz Awards (JSJA) are funded by the John Stites Jazz Artist Organization.

The organization funds advanced studies for emerging and established professional jazz musicians, as well as personal development projects which enhance their career opportunities.