DEVELOPING ARTISTS GRANTS
2008 Grant Recipient

Oscar Peterson Grant for Jazz Performance
Samantha Chrol

Nineteen-year-old Samantha Chrol is a saxophonist and clarinetist from Winnipeg , Manitoba . She received her high school education at River East Collegiate and completed the first year of a Bachelor of Jazz Studies program at the University of Manitoba in the spring of 2008.

Samantha has performed with many student jazz bands and is the first chair saxophonist in the University of Manitoba Jazz Lab Orchestra . She won the Outstanding Soloist Award from the Brandon Jazz Festival two years in a row and was also the first Canadian to win an Outstanding Soloist Award in the Essentially Ellington High School Jazz Band Competition at Lincoln Centre in New York in 2007.

Steve Kirby, Director of Jazz Studies at the University of Manitoba , describes Samantha as "a rare jewel". Says Professor Kirby, "She has such a warm, open and honest approach to everything she does, and she has an extremely inquisitive mind. On top of that she brings this enormous rhythmic and melodic gift combined with the most warm, supple and attractive tone imaginable for a saxophonist/clarinetist her age."

The Hnatyshyn Foundation jazz jury, composed of musicians Phil Nimmons, Jane Bunnett and Richard Gagnon, were impressed with Samantha's strong performance. "Good intonation and command of the instrument. Shadings and nuances along with some energy/fire were musically very effective. Nice builds and endings in the improvised solos. This young musician has a very nice sound and style already established."