Paul Cornish
Residency:
February 1 – April 30, 2021
18th Street Arts Center’s ninth Make Jazz Fellow is Los Angeles based pianist Paul Cornish. Hailing from Houston where he was a student at the prestigious Kinder High School for the Performing and Visual Arts, Cornish was one of seven jazz prodigies worldwide selected to be awarded a full fellowship to attend the esteemed Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz at UCLA. Here, he completed his Master’s degree, and studied and performed with such renowned artists as Carl Allen, Jerry Bergonzi, Billy Childs, Herbie Hancock, Bob Hurst, Geoffrey Keezer, Dick Oats, Chris Potter, Walter Smith, and Terell Stafford. Paul Cornish is one of the top young jazz pianists and composers on the scene today. Besides being a gifted pianist and composer, Cornish is a dedicated jazz educator and enjoys teaching students of all levels and presenting jazz workshops around the world.
He was the recipient of the Los Angeles Jazz Society’s 2020 New Note Commission and was the winner of the 2018 American Jazz Piano Competition. Currently residing in Los Angeles, Cornish has performed extensively throughout Southern California and across the globe with such notable artists as Gary Bartz, David Binney, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Louis Cole, Theo Croker, Sara Gazarek, John Legend, Steve Lehman, Terrace Martin, Mary Stallings, Thumpasaurus, and Kanye West.
Sponsored by the Herb Alpert Foundation to honor and support jazz artists, 18th Street Arts Center annually hosts its Make Jazz Fellowship, awarded to a jazz composer for a three-month, fully funded residency. This opportunity is for an individual jazz artist to advance or complete a body of original compositions. For three months the Make Jazz Fellow lives and works among artists in sunny Santa Monica, California. The award supports the artist by providing a monthly stipend, a furnished live-in studio, and arranged opportunities to inspire Jazz students in partnership with Los Angeles-area colleges and universities.
Community in a Pandemic
During his Make Jazz residency at 18th Street Arts Center from February – April 2021, pianist and composer Paul Cornish poses the question: “How do you create community in a pandemic?” Share your thoughts here.
The responses to this question will inform a new body of works Cornish will compose during his time as our Make Jazz resident, which will be premiered in a livestream concert with the World Stage on April 25. Check out https://18thstreet.org/events-calendar/ for updates.
Press Contact
SUE BELL YANK
Deputy Director
(310) 453-3711 x104
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