Congratulations to sophomore drummer Maya Stepansky and graduate student composer Pascal Le Boeuf:
Maya was selected as the Undergraduate College Winner of DownBeat Magazine’s 43rd Annual Student Awards in the Blues/Pop/Rock Soloist category. The complete list of winners will be published in the publication’s June issue. An excerpt from the announcement reads:
“Maya Stepansky, winner of the Undergraduate College division, started her musical career in Montclair, New Jersey, with her grade school’s precision drum corps. In high school, she performed and recorded with
the Brubeck Institute Jazz Quintet. She is now finishing her sophomore year at Princeton University, where she’s had the opportunity to study with Rudresh Mahanthappa, the university’s director of jazz, and visiting
artists Terri Lyne Carrington and Ambrose Akinmusire. She performs with rising pop musician Julien Chang’s band, The Deep Green. ‘Although I’m a jazz-trained drummer, it’s cool to be recognized in other styles,” Stepansky said. ‘I love to be as versatile as I can.’”
You can read more about Maya’s experience as a drummer on campus and hear her playing in this #TellUsTigers post.
Pascal‘s composition and music video, “Mirror Image,” won the Best Spoken Word Song and Best Concept / Experimental Short Form Video in the 18th Annual Independent Music Awards. “Mirror Image” was written for experimental musician Bec Plexus’ new album, STICKLIP on New Amsterdam Records, and describes, in Plexus’ words, a speaker who is “in conflict with someone else who is so similar that it becomes a problem.” The music video was a collaboration with Evan Chapman and Kevin Eikenberg of Four/Ten Media. Pascal’s work was chosen from thousands of submissions from 73 countries on 6 continents. The winning projects were selected by judges including: Tom Waits & Kathleen Brennan, Robert Smith, Ziggy Marley, KT Tunstall, Dee Snider, Drowning Pool, Roberta Flack, Jaci Velasquez, Coolio, Joshua Bell, Beth Gibbons, Joe Satriani and other indie creatives, top recording artists and industry influencers.
Way to go, Maya and Pascal!
