For the first time in university history, Cornell students have won Student Music Awards from DownBeat Magazine, one of the world’s premiere jazz publications. 

A collection of nine students from the After Six ensemble won the award for outstanding performance in the blues/pop/rock category: Kobby Adu ‘24, Turner Aldrich ‘26, Austin Burgett ‘25, Luke Ellis ‘24, Kaleb Kavuma ‘25, Noëlle Romero ‘24, Summer Seward ‘26, Tife Sokan ‘26 and Josh Sokol ‘25. Jack Dobosh ‘26 won a separate award for outstanding recording in the engineered studio recording category. 

Several of the world’s premiere jazz musicians got their start after winning awards in the Downbeat Student Music Awards, which started in 1976. 

Read the full story on The College of Arts & Sciences website.