School of Music students honored by DownBeat magazine
LEXINGTON, Ky. (May 7, 2024) — University of Kentucky Jazz Studies in the School of Music is celebrating outstanding success this summer with three student music awards in the June issue of DownBeat magazine.
Dalton Stanland, a 2024 music performance graduate from Lexington, won an Undergraduate College award in the Blues/Pop/Rock Soloist category, and his Latin Jazztet won the award in the Latin Group category. The UK Jazz group Stunkland Stink Stank won an Undergraduate College award in the Blues/Pop/Rock Group category.
The UK Mega-Sax released its album “Stink, Stank, FUNK! - 4.0” in the fall. In addition to Stanland, on alto and tenor saxophone, the group features the following UK students: music education senior Will Baumann, of Lexington, on alto saxophone; music senior Trevor Bowling, of Lexington, on tenor saxophone; Nick Foster, of Kansas City, Missouri, on soprano and alto saxophone; finance senior Hiroshi Hunter, of Lexington, on baritone saxophone; and music education junior Trevor Wheatley, of Lewisport, Kentucky, on tenor saxophone, under the direction of Miles Osland, director of UK Jazz Studies and professor of saxophone.
DownBeat is one of the world’s leading jazz and contemporary music publications. Students and educators can nominate themselves for the magazine's annual awards, and applicants range from junior high to graduate level individuals and ensembles.
DownBeat Student Music Awards are considered the most prestigious awards in jazz education.
"Winning three awards in three separate categories in one year is unheard of," Osland said. "The competition is fierce, and Dalton blew them away."
In his 35 years teaching at UK, Miles Osland has released 45 CD recordings and produced multiple student award winners.
The UK School of Music at the UK College of Fine Arts has garnered a national reputation for high-caliber education in opera, choral and instrumental music performance, as well as music education, music therapy, composition and theory and music history.
As the state’s flagship, land-grant institution, the University of Kentucky exists to advance the Commonwealth. We do that by preparing the next generation of leaders — placing students at the heart of everything we do — and transforming the lives of Kentuckians through education, research and creative work, service and health care. We pride ourselves on being a catalyst for breakthroughs and a force for healing, a place where ingenuity unfolds. It's all made possible by our people — visionaries, disruptors and pioneers — who make up 200 academic programs, a $476.5 million research and development enterprise and a world-class medical center, all on one campus.
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