Celebrating Jazz Appreciation Month: USINT Announces Winners of “Compón Un Song” Contest

Jazz Appreciation Month 2012 is dedicated to Frank Sinatra

April 26, 2011 – USINT today announced the winners of its “Compón Un Song” contest,  organized in honor of Jazz Appreciation Month which is celebrated every April.  A panel of judges including Cuban musicians and USINT Deputy Chief of Mission Charles V. Barclay selected four winners from a field of over 50 entries covering traditional Cuban music, fusion, pop-rock and hip hop-reggaetón.

The winners are:

Orlando Lázaro Núñez Melián for “Dime que será”
Mary Rodríguez for “Cuando todo termina”
Raydel Alfredo Rojas Góngora for “Canto de un guajiro”
D'Clase for “Amor como el tuyo”

The winners will perform their winning compositions at a musical evening hosted by USINT in early May, when they will be presented with their prizes.

Jazz Appreciation Month (JAM) is celebrated every April across the United States and recognizes the American origins of jazz and its continuing appeal across the globe.  Events include concerts and festivals, master classes and jazz clinics, exhibitions and other community activities for people of all ages. 

In 2012 the theme of Jazz Appreciation Month is “Crossing Borders and Cultures”, and highlights the achievements of jazz musicians in advancing freedom, creativity and unity through jazz music.  The month is dedicated to Frank Sinatra who in 1945 recorded “The House I Live In”, a 10-minute song and Hollywood film that appealed to post-World War II weary Americans to unite and remember the freedoms on which the United States of America is founded.  On April 22, 2012, Assistant Secretary of State for International Organization Affairs Esther Brimmer, the Smithsonian Institution’s Under Secretary for History, Art and Culture Richard Kurin, and Interim Director of the National Museum of American History Marc Pachter co-hosted Embassy Jazz Day at the National Museum of American History, Washington, DC, during which they announced the creation of International Jazz Day on April 30.