Music News - New Zealand Songwriters Excel In US Based Competition
08 May 2014 - 0 Comments
The International Songwriting Competition (ISC), widely recognized as the world's most prestigious and respected songwriting competition, has today announced its 2013 winners. Almost 20,000 entries were submitted, and once again, Kiwi artists have been honored in the competition, garnering two First Place wins and nine Honorable Mentions. See below for a list of all New Zealand winners.
Established in 2002, ISC awards more than $150,000 in cash and prizes to amateur and professional songwriters around the world. Past ISC winners include Gotye, Bastille, The Band Perry, Passenger, Kasey Chambers, King Charles, Lindsey Stirling, Andrew Bird, NZ phenoms Gin Wigmore and Kimbra, and many more.
Winners were selected by a panel of judges which included, among others, Imagine Dragons, Martina McBride, Joshua Redman, Josh Turner, Keane, Garbage, Dido, Jon Secada, Darryl McDaniels (Run D.M.C.), James Cotton, Boney James, Jason Isbell, and Anoushka Shankar. Judges also included the top echelon of music industry executives, including Monte Lipman (Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer, Republic Records), Dan McCarroll (President, Warner Bros. Records), Alison Donald (Co-President, Columbia Records UK) and many more.
Founder and Director Candace Avery states, "We are proud that so many NZ artists have done so well in ISC. Three of our previous twelve Grand Prize winners have come from NZ (Kimbra, Gin Wigmore, and Moana Maniapoto) so we have come to expect a lot from NZ entrants. We look forward to hearing more great Kiwi music this upcoming year."
The 2013 Grand Prize is awarded to a Japanese artist: jazz trumpeter, composer, and arranger Shunzo Ohno for his song "Musashi." This is the first time in ISC's 13-year history that the Grand Prize has been awarded to either a songwriter in the Jazz category or an artist from Japan.
One of the leading jazz trumpet players in his native Japan by the age of 19, Shunzo Ohno moved to New York City in 1974 to perform with jazz legend Art Blakey & The Messengers. Since then, he has performed and toured with many of the world's greatest jazz artists, including Art Blakey, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, Gil Evans, Larry Coryell, Machito & His Afro-Cuban Orchestra, and many more. With numerous recordings under his own name as a leader, he has also appeared on over 30 more as a sideman and has collaborated on two Grammy winning recordings. Surviving both a serious car accident in which his teeth and lips were permanently damaged and a later bout of throat cancer which forced him to relearn his playing, he is a testament to determination and courage, even inspiring a biography and documentary in Japan about his life.
For a more in-depth bio, please go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/pressreleases
ISC is sponsored by: Presonus, Lowden Guitars, Marshall Amplification, Solid State Logic, Berklee College Of Music, Mrs. Fields Cookies, Airplay Direct, D'Addario, DiscMakers, Thayers, SongU.com, Sonicbids, The Music Business Registry, Indie Venue Bible, Celebrity Access, Tunecore, Independent Mastering, George Stein, Esq., Songtrust, and Taxi.
ISC is now accepting entries for 2014. More information can be found at: http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/.
For a complete list of 2013 ISC winners and to hear the winning songs, go to http://www.songwritingcompetition.com/winners
New Zealand winners include:
First Place Winners:
First Place
Come Into My Head - Kimbra, Keith Ciancia, Sonny J Mason (Auckland, New Zealand) - Performance
Come Into My Head - Kimbra, Keith Ciancia, Sonny J Mason (Auckland, New Zealand) - Music Video
Honorable Mentions
Come Into My Head - Kimbra, Keith Ciancia, Sonny J Mason (Auckland, New Zealand) - Pop/Top 40
Little Bit Small Town - Kaylee Bell, Mike Carr (Waimate, New Zealand) - Country
Living The Dream - Katie Scott, Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper / Kittens Of The Internet (Auckland, New Zealand) - Pop/Top 40
Living The Dream - Katie Scott, Mahuia Bridgman-Cooper / Kittens Of The Internet (Auckland, New Zealand) - Unsigned Only
One More Time - The Easy Hearts (Christchurch, New Zealand) - Rock
Sweet - Matt Barus / Dukes (Christchurch, New Zealand) - Adult Contemporary
The Avenue - Miles Calder / Miles Calder & The Rumours (Wellington, New Zealand) - Americana
Two Way Street - Kimbra, Francois Tetaz (Auckland, New Zealand) - Performance
Upsidedownbackwards - Julian Temple Wilson / Julian Temple Band (Dunedin, New Zealand) - Adult Album Alternative
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