
The Thelonious Monk International Jazz Competition helped launch the careers of some of the genre's most acclaimed and enduring artists. Now, in its 31st year-its first as the renamed Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Competition-the event returns to Washington, D.C., December 2-3.
The contest spotlights a different instrument each year, with this years event focusing on the guitar. Israeli pianist and Berklee student Tom Oren took home first prize in 2018, becoming the sixth Berklee musician to win the competition. Next month, four Berklee alumni semifinalists-Cecil Alexander, Fran ois Chanvallon, Lucian Gray, and Matt Sewell-will compete for the chance to attach their names to this legacy.
Find Your Style
The Guitar Department helps you forge your artistic path, providing expert instruction in countless styles such as jazz, rock, metal, funk, classical, and microtonal music, among others.
The semifinals take place on Monday, December 2, at the Smithsonian's National Museum of the American Indian. Each musician will have 15 minutes to perform in front of an all-star judging panel that includes Pat Metheny '96H, John Scofield '73, Lionel Loueke '00, Russell Malone, and Stanley Jordan. The judges will select three guitarists from this group to advance to the finals on Tuesday, December 3, at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts.
The first-prize winner will earn $30,000 in scholarship funds, and will be offered a recording contract with Concord Music Group. Beyond the financial reward, winning the title brings the awards substantial cultural cachet-crucial for a young artist seeking to carve out a career in the competitive world of jazz.
Since the first competition was held in 1987, nearly half the participants have come from Berklee. The institute has only held two previous guitar competitions: Lage Lund B.M. '00 won first prize in 2005, and Sheryl Bailey, assistant chair of Berklee's Guitar Department, placed third in 1995.
About the Semifinalists: Cecil Alexander Cecil Alexander B.M. '16, of Muskegon, Michigan, is a graduate of the Berklee and William Paterson University. He cofounded the group Visen in 2016 with fellow Berklee graduate Ari Jaye Alexander, and in 2017 the group released its first EP, Shoulder Deep. A winner of the 2017 Wilson Center Jazz Guitar Competition and the 2018 Lee Ritenour Six String Theory Competition in the jazz category, Alexander counts Peter Bernstein, Kurt Rosenwinkel, and Jesse van Ruller among his key influences. He has performed or recorded with artists such as Nathan East, Luis Perdomo, James Weidman, and Pat Bianchi, to name a few.
Fran ois Chanvallon Fran ois Chanvallon B.M. '18, of Paris, France, began his musical training at age 10. After attending the IMEP Paris College of Music, he earned a Bachelor of Music with honors from Berklee. He has studied privately with Darren Barrett, Mick Goodrick, Rick Peckham, Jaleel Shaw, and Miguel Zen n, among others. Currently a masters degree candidate at the Manhattan School of Music, Chanvallon has worked with artists including Chris Cheek, Gary Burton, and Kurt Elling, and was a 2019 finalist in the 7 Virtual Jazz Club Competition. He appears on Darren Barrett's recent release The EVI Sessions: Mr. Steiner.
Lucian Gray Lucian Gray B.M. '12, of Toronto, Canada, attended Berklee on the prestigious Slaight Family Scholarship, studying with George Garzone, Mick Goodrick, Dave Santoro, and Mark Whitfield. He has appeared alongside notable artists such as Guido Basso, Il Divo, Molly Johnson, and Neil Swainson, among others, and has performed at prominent festivals throughout Canada, including the TD Toronto Jazz Festival, the Beaches Jazz Festival, and the Calgary Jazz Festival. Gray is currently head of jazz studies at Discovery through the Arts, a nonprofit music school in Toronto, and also plays the piano and upright and electric bass.
Matt Sewell Matt Sewell B.M. '19 is a native of St. Louis, Missouri, who began formal musical training on piano at age 7, ultimately settling on guitar at age 9. He recently graduated from Berklee, where he worked with artists including Terence Blanchard, Emanuel Harrold, Adam Larson, Quiana Lynell, and Noah Preminger. Sewell has appeared on major stages in the United States, Australia, Canada, Germany, and Poland, including venues such as the Blue Note Jazz Club in New York City, the Charlie Parker Jazz Festival, the Montreal Jazz Festival, the Ottawa Jazz Festival, and the Spoleto Festival USA.
Related categories:
News
Most Popular
Maleficent Composer: Every Note Points to the Story Geoff Zanelli B.M. 96 talks about his creative process, his deep love for fantasy films, and the importance of making mistakes.
Latest
Berklee Alumni Win Four Latin Grammys Nella picked up Best New Artist in a big night for Berklee at the 20th annual Latin Grammy Awards.
Berklee Announces First Gospel Summer Program The five-day performance program brings together gospels traditions with its contemporary cultural relevance, and will take place August 17-21, 2020.
Four Berklee Guitarists Vie for Preeminent Jazz Prize Berklee alumni make up a quarter of the semifinalists at the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Competition.
Read All
Subscribe The latest sounds, stories, and ideas, sent to your inbox weekly.
Berklee Blogs
Facebook
Twitter
YouTube
Instagram
Snapchat
Soundcloud
Spotify
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
04/08/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
04/07/2026
April 7 2026, 19:00 (PDT) Detective Conan: Fallen Angel of the Highway Opens in...
01/06/2026
January 6 2026, 05:30 (PST) Dolby Sets the New Standard for Premium Entertainment at CES 2026
Throughout the week, Dolby brings to life the latest innovatio...
02/05/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, t...
01/05/2026
January 5 2026, 18:30 (PST) NBCUniversal's Peacock to Be First Streamer to ...
11/04/2026
Sachtler Highlights Comprehensive Camera Support Solutions at NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 11, 2026
0 Comments
Sachtler showcases advanced camera suppo...
11/04/2026
Sohonet Launches Media Fabric: A Unified Managed Infrastructure Suite for Film, ...
11/04/2026
AJA Unveils BRIDGE LIVE IP with SMPTE ST 2110 I/O
Brie Clayton April 11, 2026
0 Comments
New IP video solution streamlines modern productions, providi...
11/04/2026
InSync Unveils Advanced Video Processing and Frame Rate Conversion Solutions at ...
11/04/2026
Amagi Launches Newspulse: An Agentic AI Platform That Autonomously Turns Live Ne...
11/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
11/04/2026
Pilot phase begins for a new national infrastructure designed to safeguard academic and research data with full local data control, sovereignty, resilience, and...
11/04/2026
How to Stream Coachella 2026 at Home Check this years stacked schedule for the annual music festivals full lineup, including when Berklee artists from Laufey ...
11/04/2026
Time Travel As Berklee on the Road programs in Puerto Rico and Italy mark decades-long anniversaries, we journey into the past and step into the future.
Apri...
11/04/2026
Improving vaccine design for Ebola, HIV and more Scripps Research scientists and colleagues develop a nanodisc platform that offers a clearer view of how key vi...
10/04/2026
The Invisible OPEX Killer: Is Your Server Room Dragging You Down? In the broadcast world, we talk a lot about uptime. We talk about talent retention, latency...
10/04/2026
Imagine Communications will showcase its multiviewer portfolio at NAB Show 2026 (April 19-22, Booth N1328, Las Vegas Convention Center), including Prismon and t...
10/04/2026
Chyron has released PRIME VSAR 2.3, an update to its virtual set and augmented reality solution for broadcast. The release adds compatibility with Unreal Engine...
10/04/2026
Techex will exhibit at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W2267, April 19-23, Las Vegas Convention Center), demonstrating new tx darwin features including consumer multiview,...
10/04/2026
NDI will exhibit at NAB Show 2026, demonstrating its IP video ecosystem through live partner integrations, NDI 6.3 features, AI metadata workflows, and creator ...
10/04/2026
FOR-A has announced the acquisition of all shares of Tamu Radiance Corporation, a new company spun off from the Information Equipment Business of Tamura Corpora...
10/04/2026
InSync Technology will showcase new and updated video conversion products at NAB...
10/04/2026
TNT Sports and DAZN have announced a partnership to air monthly boxing events in the United States under the brand The Fight. The series will be promoted in p...
10/04/2026
Panasonic Projector and Display has announced the SQ3 Series of 4K LCD displays as part of its MEVIX professional display portfolio. All sizes will be available...
10/04/2026
Amagi has announced the addition of Agentic Media Operations to its Amagi NOW platform, integrating AI reasoning agents across its media supply chain workflows ...
10/04/2026
LTN has announced enhancements to its global IP video network targeting broadcasters transitioning from satellite distribution. The updates come ahead of US fed...
10/04/2026
Daktronics has installed new LED displays at Yankee Stadium, upgrading the main centerfield board, two flanking boards, and two ribbon displays spanning the 200...
10/04/2026
Harmonic has announced updates to its hybrid streaming solution, including Model Context Protocol (MCP) connectivity for AI applications, cloud-native deploymen...
10/04/2026
MultiDyne Video and Fiber Optic Systems will introduce two new fiber transport products at NAB Show 2026 (Booth C4425, April 19-22): the FiberSaver-10G waveleng...
10/04/2026
Telos Alliance and ip-studio will demonstrate STUDIO ZERO, a cloud-hosted virtual studio, at NAB Show 2026. First introduced at NAB Show 2023, STUDIO ZERO integ...
10/04/2026
d&b solutions, a London-based audio-visual, lighting, and media integration grou...
10/04/2026
ARRI and SmallHD have announced a new expansion license for ARRI's Hi-5 and Hi-5 SX hand units that displays lens data overlays on supported SmallHD monitor...
10/04/2026
Roku and the Banana Ball Championship League (BBCL) have announced an exclusive streaming partnership to bring five BBCL games to the Roku Sports Channel in 202...
10/04/2026
Ratings Roundup is a rundown of recent rating news and is derived from press rel...
10/04/2026
The Peabody Awards don't just recognize great storytelling, they spotlight t...
10/04/2026
After launching the Spotify Podcast Awards in Mexico last year, we brought the fan-voted celebration to Paris this week for its first edition in France. Hosted ...
10/04/2026
Powered and unpowered live PA ranges upgraded
Yamaha have just refreshed four of their hugely popular PA speaker ranges, delivering significant improvements...
10/04/2026
Underlying plug-in & VI technology now available to others
UJAM's latest announcement sees the company open up' Gorilla Engine, the development pla...
10/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/04/2026
Bitcentral, a leading provider of professional media solutions for broadcast and digital video, will showcase its latest innovations at NAB Show 2026 (Booth W28...
10/04/2026
Ikegami to Introduce Expanded Range of Broadcast Production Solutions at NAB 202...
10/04/2026
AJA Debuts SMPTE ST 2110 and openGear Solutions Ahead of NAB 2026
Brie Clayton April 10, 2026
0 Comments
New gear and updates address evolving hybrid ...
10/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
10/04/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...