BerkleeJazz.org is pleased to announce the ninth Annual Herb Pomeroy Jazz Composition/Arranging Contest, sponsored by Berklee College of Music’s Jazz Composition Department and Professional Writing Division. The winning piece will be performed by the Berklee Concert Jazz Orchestra at the 2019 High School Jazz Festival, happening this year on January 26th, 2019 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston, MA. In addition, the winner will receive a full tuition scholarship to the Berklee 5-week Summer Performance Program. Second and Third place winners will receive a partial scholarship to the Berklee 5-week Summer Performance Program. The Herb Pomeroy Jazz Composition application for 2019 has closed.
Results for 2019
Results for 2018
Winner: Ethan Moffitt
1st Runner Up: Matthew Kuperberg
2nd Runner Up: Avi Randall
Results for 2017
Winner: Ethan Moffitt
1st Runner Up:Alexander DeGogorza Moravcsik
2nd Runner Up: Arjun Raguram
Results for 2016
Winner: James Brandfonbrener
1st Runner Up: Evan Wright
2nd Runner Up: Ethan Moffitt
Results for 2015
Winner: Matt Wong
1st Runner Up: Sam Wolsk
2nd Runner Up: James Ahn Brandfonbrener
Results for 2014
Matt Wong from San Francisco School of the Arts, San Francisco, CA
Results for 2013
Aditya Raguram, from Princeton, New Jersey
Results for 2012
Frank Rein from Princeton, New Jersey
Results for 2011
John Sturm from Princeton, New Jersey
About Herb Pomeroy
Herb Pomeroy was a Berklee Faculty legend and jazz great. A graduate of the class of ’52, his work as a mentor and musician helped make Berklee into the world’s leading institute of contemporary music.
Jazz great and Berklee Faculty legend, Herb Pomeroy leading one of his many classes
He joined the Berklee faculty as a full-time teacher in 1955 and developed several courses that eventually cemented his reputation as one of jazz’s greatest teachers. Pomeroy’s appreciation for and endless study of Duke Ellington’s music informed much of his classroom work and helped spawn scores of talented musicians, including producer Arif Mardin, The Simpsons composer Alf Clausen, composer-arrangers Alan Broadbent and Rob Mounsey, vibraphonist Gary Burton, keyboardist Joe Zawinul, bassist Abe Laboriel Sr., film composers Mike Gibbs and Alan Silvestri, and many others.
Herb released many CDs as a leader and co-leader and appeared on dozens of recordings as a sideman, including sessions with Charlie Parker and Charlie Mariano. He began playing professionally in high school and went on the road in the early 1950s with bands led by Lionel Hampton, Stan Kenton, and Serge Chaloff.
