This just in: Chicago vocalist Sarah Marie Young has won the Montreux Jazz Festival’s Shure Vocal Competition, beating out an international slate of nine other semi-finalists from across Europe and Australia.
Because of the worldwide fame attached to the Montreux festival, now in its 45th year, the award focuses the attention of the international jazz audience on Young in particular and on Chicago in general.
After being named one of the three finalists yesterday – when she joined Quincy Jones (who led the panel of judges) and fellow finalists Luis Regidor of Spain and Chiara Izzi of Italy – Young was named the first-place winner, and also the winner of the “Public Prize,” shortly before 1 PM Chicago time (8 PM in Montreux, Switzerland).
Young came close to major honors just last fall when she competed in the Thelonious Monk Institute’s competition for jazz vocalists in Washington, D.C.
As the first-place winner, Young receives a prize of 5,000 Swiss francs (almost $6,000 US), along with a week of studio time in the Zurich exurbs. She’ll also perform again at Montreux as part of a group led by the winner of the festival’s piano competition, Piotr Orzechowski of Poland.
Your Chicago Jazz Reporter will speak with Young and provide more details as soon as possible.
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