Alec Schulman Receives BMI Future Jazz Masters Scholarship

The BMI Foundation has named Alec Schulman, a fifth-semester student at Berklee College of Music, as the winner of this year's BMI Future Jazz Master Scholarship. The $5,000 prize, typically presented at BMI's annual celebration of the National Endowment for the Arts Jazz Master Fellows, was awarded online by Patrick Cook, BMI's director of musical theater and jazz. 

Schulman is a resident of Los Angeles, California, and studies jazz performance and composition at the college. An accomplished pianist, bandleader, and composer, he has performed alongside several prominent jazz artists, including Ambrose Akinmusire, Billy Hart, Justin Brown, Kenny Garrett, and Warren Wolf. He is currently working on a project with singer-songwriter Emma Frank.

“Receiving this award is quite an honor,” said Schulman. “There are so many great artists here at Berklee from all over the world, and I’m privileged to share a community with such inspiring, creative people who have shown me new ways of thinking about the stories we tell.”

Schulman won a DownBeat Student Music Award in the Composition category in 2017, and was one of 14 Berklee students recognized with a DownBeat award in 2020. His other career highlights include winning the Los Angeles Music Center’s Spotlight Award, being selected as a semifinalist at the International Songwriting Competition (ISC), and receiving an honorable mention at the YoungArts National Arts Competition, where he performed as part of the YoungArts Los Angeles event.

The BMI Future Jazz Master Scholarship is an annual competition for rising jazz stars pursuing an academic degree in jazz studies. Established by BMI in 2015 in honor of the NEA Jazz Masters Fellowship, the award pays tribute to the artistic excellence of jazz pioneers while providing crucial support for emerging artists. The scholarship is awarded by a panel of NEA Jazz Master judges based on evidence of talent and potential as a jazz performer and composer.