The five jazz pianists who will vie for a top national prize will soon visit Indianapolis to compete. The American Piano Awards, based in the Circle City, has selected Joe Block, Caelan Cardello, Brandon Goldberg, Connor Rohrer and Brahm Sasner as finalists for the 2027 cycle of the competition, which begins this fall.
The five were selected through a blind audition process and will take turns performing in Indianapolis between October and February 2027 before they all return in April 2027 for the finals rounds. While each finalist will receive $25,000, the winner will receive a prize package worth more than $200,000.
The last jazz piano winner of the American Pianists Awards was Isaiah J. Thompson in 2023. In 2025, Michael Davidman won the competition’s classical cycle.
About the five finalists for 2027
Joe Block: Based in New York City, Block was a finalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition. He graduated from the Columbia–Juilliard dual-degree program and has performed with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and vocalist Leslie Odom Jr.
Caelan Cardello: He has shared bills with bassist Christian McBride, drummer Jimmy Cobb and pianist Bill Charlap. Cardello received the BMI Future Jazz Master Award and graduated from William Paterson University and The Juilliard School. He was an American Piano Awards finalist in 2023.
Brandon Goldberg: Born in South Florida, Goldberg has released three albums and performed at the Newport Jazz Festival and SFJAZZ, among others. He won a 2022 ASCAP Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award and is a 2024 YoungArts Winner with Distinction.
Connor Rohrer: Based in Miami, he has recorded with bassist Ron Carter and saxophonist Dayna Stephens, and he now tours with vocalist Samara Joy. Rohrer was the second-place finalist in the 2023 Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Piano Competition and has performed at the Newport Jazz Festival and the Montreux Jazz Festival, among others.
Brahm Sasner: A graduate of the Manhattan School of Music, Sasner has performed at Jazz at Lincoln Center’s Dizzy’s Club and received awards from the YoungArts and the Rubato International Piano competitions.
American Pianists Awards schedule
Tickets are required for concerts unless they are marked as free. Subscriptions go on sale July 13, and individual tickets will be available Sept. 9. Buy them at pianoawards.org.
Premiere Series: Each finalist will travel to Indianapolis for community outreach and to perform in front of the competition jury.
Finals
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Contact IndyStar reporter Domenica Bongiovanni at 317-444-7339 or d.bongiovanni@indystar.com. Sign up here for the newsletter she curates about things to do and ways to explore Indianapolis. Find her on Facebook, Instagram or X: @domenicareports.
This article originally appeared on Indianapolis Star: Five top jazz pianists will compete in Indianapolis starting this fall
Reporting by Domenica Bongiovanni, Indianapolis Star / Indianapolis Star
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
By Domenica Bongiovanni, Indianapolis Star | USA TODAY Network
