An introduction by the esteemed jazz critic and saxophone extraodinare, Chad Lefkowitz-Brown: The pianist prodigae, Noah Kellman, has blended the talented progressive sounds of all noteworthy pianists from Brad Mehldau to Chick Corea. Raised in a musically influenced family, Noah's attraction towards musical passion was inevitable, and enhanced by the scholarly teachings of Rick Montalbano, renowned pianist and father-in-law of the famous Jane Monheit. Noah developed his energetic swing style with a surprising amount of maturity for his young age. He progressed his sound closer and closer to a seasoned professional, catching the eye of many famous musicians, and achieving numerous prestigous honors, including winning 4 Downbeat Magazine Student Music Awards and acceptance to the extremely competitive Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony in 2005 and 2007, and Berklee Summer Jazz Workshop, in the very early years of his High School career. Now as a Junior, Noah continues to perform at a prodigous level, with hopes of achievments well beyond his High School years.BIO: Pianist Noah Kellman, 16, is a junior at Manlius Pebble Hill High School. He has achieved several honors, which include seven awards from Downbeat Magazine, three for improvisation, three for original composition, and one for best jazz group. He received one of four outstanding musicianship awards at the national Berklee High School Jazz Competition in both 2006 and 2007 and he was also accepted as one of three pianists nationally to attend the Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony in the summer of 2005. He retured to the Skidmore Jazz Institute summer 2006 where he was presented with the 2006 Dean Harrington Memorial Scholarship Award from the New York State School Music Association. He attended the Berklee Summer Jazz Workshop as of one of 2 pianists chosen internationally summer 2006 and was also chosen as one of 2 pianists nationally to attend the Vail Jazz Workshop in the summer of 2006. In 2007, Noah attended the Brubeck Summer Jazz Colony for the second time. He also won a Downbeat Student Music Award for his composition "Pandora's Box". In 2008, Noah received an ASCAP Young Jazz Composer's Award for his composition "Get Lost", and was also selected as one of four pianists chosen from an international group of applicants age 30 and under to attend the prestigious Betty Carter Jazz Ahead residency program. He also received three Downbeat Awards, including one for Best Jazz Soloist, one for Outstanding Original Composition, and one for Best Jazz Group with the Manlius Pebble Hill School Duo. Currently, Noah is a founding member of a popular local combo which performs frequently in the Central New York area, and the band has been asked back three summers to Jazz in the Square, a downtown Syracuse jazz festival. He also leads his own trio, called the Noah Kellman Trio. Noah is also the pianist for the Manlius Pebble Hill Jazz Combo, which took third place at the National Berklee High School Jazz Competition in 2006 and first place in 2007, as well as the Young Lions of Central New York, a conglomerate all-star big band.
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