Scott Routenberg Wins the John Lennon Competition Maxell Song of the Year

Scott Routenberg, who last year was one of the recipients of a Heineken Music Initiative/ASCAP Foundation R&B Grant, recently has received two large honors. He was one of 12 Grand Prize Winners in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest, in the Jazz category. This honor carried with it a $5,000 EMI Publishing Contract for his winning composition, "Bandwidth," $5,000 in studio gear courtesy of Yamaha, and 1,000 free CDs from Discmakers. In addition to this prize, "Bandwidth" was chosen from the Grand Prize Winners as "Maxell Song of the Year" winner, an honor that carries with it a $20,000 check courtesy of the Maxell Corporation.

Routenberg is a 26-year old composer, jazz pianist, and programmer and "Bandwidth" was the result of his desire to write a hybrid jazz big band/electronic composition. He earned a B.A. in Music and Communication (2001) from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and a MM in Jazz Piano Performance (2003) from the University of Miami. Routenberg teaches Jazz and Popular Music History at Miami-Dade College and is starting the Doctoral program this fall at UM for his DMA (Doctor of Musical Arts). Scott recently completed his second MM (Master of Music) degree in Media Writing and Production at the University of Miami (2005). Scott has received such honors as The ASCAP Foundation Young Jazz Composer Award (2003-2004), the Hilton Head Jazz Society Performance Scholarship (2003), runner-up in the John Lennon Songwriting Contest (2003, Electronic Music Category) and composer participant in the 2004 Henry Mancini Institute in Los Angeles.