American Piano Awards Premiere Series - Brandon Goldberg
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American Piano Awards Announces the 2027 Jazz Awards Season
We’re pleased to announce our schedule for the 2027 Awards season, where five exceptional jazz pianists will compete in live-adjudicated performances.
These performances offer a rare opportunity to experience some of the most remarkable pianists emerging in jazz. “We have the privilege of giving audiences a front row seat to the future of jazz,” APA President and CEO Chris Williams said. “We’re proud to support each finalist at a pivotal moment in their professional lives.”
Our season will kick off September 19, 2026, with a free concert and reception at Indianapolis’s Madam Walker Theatre, hosted by IndyNow’s Ryan Ahlwardt and Alpha Kappa Alpha’s Katasha S. Butler, PharmD, MBA — American Piano Awards board member and Compliance Coordinator at Eskenazi Health.
From October 2026 through February 2027, each finalist will spend a week in Indianapolis for a two-set concert at The Jazz Kitchen with a specially arranged trio. The finalists will also visit Indianapolis-area schools for educational enrichment and engage in broader community activities during their stay.
All finalists will return for a series of adjudicated concerts during the American Piano Awards Finals Week: Celebrating American Jazz at 250, April 22-24, 2027. The competition will culminate on Saturday, April 24, 2027, at Hilbert Circle Theatre, where artists will perform one tune solo, one tune with singer Veronica Swift, and one tune with the Buselli–Wallarab Jazz Orchestra. An internationally respected jury will adjudicate performances throughout the season.
Pianist and composer, Brandon Goldberg, has been praised for his “unassailable technique, advanced harmonic understanding, a deep sense of swing and, most impressively, a clarity and plethora of ideas executed to near-perfection.” – Downbeat Magazine
Goldberg has released three critically acclaimed albums - Brandon Goldberg Trio Live at Dizzy’s (2024), In Good Time (2021) and LET’S PLAY! (2019). He’s performed at leading jazz festivals across the country including the Newport Jazz Festival, San Francisco (SFJazz), PDX Jazz, Litchfield, Twin Cities, and Caramoor and has played in New York’s most notable jazz clubs including Dizzy’s Club, Mezzrow, and Birdland Theater.
Goldberg is a 2024 YoungArts Winner with Distinction, a semifinalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition and youngest recipient of the 2022 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award. Goldberg has written original music for the television series Lawmen: Bass Reeves. The Miami Symphony Orchestra commissioned Goldberg to write two original compositions for piano and orchestra, “Surroundings” and “Rhapsody in F Minor”, which were both performed live and recorded, receiving high praise and accolades.
Goldberg has appeared on Good Morning America and Live with Kelly and Mark accompanying Katharine McPhee as she performed songs from her new album with David Foster, ChristmasSongs. At a young age, Goldberg appeared on national television in Seasons 1 and 2 of NBC’s Little Big Shots, The Steve Harvey Show and the Harry Connick, Jr. Show.