SOCAN once again served as sponsor of the 2008 SOCAN/IAJE Phil Nimmons Composition Awards, named for Canadian jazz icon Phil Nimmons and presented each January during the conference of the International Association for Jazz Education (IAJE). This year’s 35^th annual conference took place in Toronto, featuring dozens of performances by professional and student ensembles, panel discussions, workshops and clinics, as well as a huge exhibition, all designed to advance training opportunities for jazz musicians and composers.

SOCAN/IAJE Award winners Fred Stride of Vancouver (Established Jazz Composer Award) and Toronto’s Andrew Jones (Emerging Jazz Composer Award) were on hand to accept their honours during a gala event on Jan. 12 at the Metro Toronto Convention Centre, attended by some 400 jazz lovers and educators from around the world. The awards event showcased the winners in performances of their winning works – Stride’s By All Accounts and Jones’ Solstice – Crescendo of Light – with each composer leading the powerhouse, 18-piece Paul Read Orchestra, which is due to release its first album this year. The band also performed a number of other compositions by the two winners. The performances were funded in part by the SOCAN Foundation.

SOCAN/IAJE Award winner Andrew Jones (right) with Phil Nimmons. (Photo: IAJE/R. Andrew Lepley)

Elsewhere during the conference, SOCAN general counsel Paul Spurgeon took part in “Ask the Experts,” a session that provided participants with the opportunity to gain hands-on career tips from a panel of music industry representatives.

One of the most high-profile conference highlights was an all-star gala titled Oscar Peterson: Simply the Best, held Jan.12 at Roy Thomson Hall as a tribute to the late, legendary Canadian pianist and composer who took the jazz world by storm. Aired live on CBC Radio, the gala featured tributes by the likes of producer Quincy Jones and the legendary Stevie Wonder (on videotape), family reminiscences, and performances by pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Nancy Wilson, and operatic soprano Measha Brueggergosman.

Next year’s IAJE conference is scheduled for Jan. 7-10, 2009, in Seattle.