Montclair Youth Jazz Star Earns ‘Musician of Distinction’ Award

Montclair, NJ – New Jersey-based nonprofit Jazz House Kids recently announced that Xavier Kuzin, a senior at Montclair High School, was awarded the 2016 Jazz House Kids Musician of Distinction Award.

According to a news release, Kuzin, a long-time student at Jazz House Kids, plays tenor saxophone in the Legacy Orchestra and the Blues & Roots ensemble directed by Camille Thurman. He plans on attending William Paterson University in the fall of 2016.

The annual award honors the “budding talents” of emerging musicians ages 13 to 18. Every year, the Jazz House Kids Musician of Distinction Award is granted to two young musicians who participate in either the Jazz House Kids Music Club in-school programs or at the Jazz House in downtown Montclair.

This merit and need-based award is given to an outstanding emerging musician who “demonstrates leadership, musicianship, creativity and dedication to excellence,” Jazz House Kids states.

Rayner and his fellow honoree, Rayner Perez, an eighth grader at Abington Avenue School in Newark, received new, professional-level musical instruments from RS Berkeley Musical Instruments, along with a year of mentoring from a Jazz House Kids professional musician.

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Photo: Jazz House Kids