Semifinalists Announced for 2026 Herbie Hancock Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition, October 10-11 in Paris

Eleven Young Vocalists from Around the World to Compete at Fondation Louis Vuitton

WASHINGTON and PARIS, Sept. 10, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- Eleven outstanding young jazz vocalists from around the globe will compete in the 2026 Herbie Hancock Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition, October 10–11 in the Auditorium of the Fondation Louis Vuitton in Paris. Presented in partnership and with the support of Fondation Louis Vuitton, the 2026 edition marks the first time in the Competition's nearly four-decade history that it will take place outside the United States.

Hundreds of talented young vocalists from all over the world submitted applications and 11 exceptional artists were selected, forming the most internationally diverse group of semifinalists since the Competition's founding in 1987. Six of the 11 semifinalists come from outside the United States, reflecting the global reach of jazz and the international character of this year's Competition.

The semifinalists are: Joie Bianco of Staten Island, New York; Anouk Chemla of Paris, France; Lucy-Anne Daniels of Leeds, United Kingdom; Georgia Heers from Greenville, South Carolina; Courteney Hooper of Adelaide, Australia; Kate Kortum from Houston, Texas; Kristin Lash of Bratislava, Slovakia; Zhenxuan "Jimmy" Lin of Guangzhou, China; Malou Oheix of Nantes, France; Ashley Pezzotti from Miami, Florida; and Tawanda Suessbrich-Joaquim from Las Cruces, New Mexico.

These aspiring musicians will compete in the Semifinals on Saturday, October 10 from 1 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. at the Fondation Louis Vuitton. The semifinalists will perform before a judging panel of internationally acclaimed jazz vocalists including Patti Austin, Dee Dee Bridgewater, Roberta Gambarini, Gretchen Parlato and Gregory Porter. Each semifinalist will perform for 15 minutes, presenting three songs, including one non-jazz work, accompanied by a stellar rhythm section featuring Carmen Staaf on piano, Ben Williams on bass and Kendrick Scott on drums.

From this group, the judges will select three finalists to perform in the Competition Finals on Sunday evening, October 11 at 7:30 p.m. At stake is more than $100,000 in scholarships and prizes, including a $50,000 first-place award presented by the Fondation Louis Vuitton, a $25,000 second-place award and a $10,000 third-place award. The evening will culminate with an All-Star Gala Concert featuring Herbie Hancock, Ambrose Akinmusire, Monty Alexander, Till Brönner, Terri Lyne Carrington, Nils Landgren, John Patitucci, Danilo Pérez, Tineke Postma, and other artists, with John Beasley serving as Musical Director. Renowned jazz trumpeter Arturo Sandoval will receive the Institute's Maria Fisher Founder's Award in recognition of his extraordinary contributions to jazz and music education, joining a distinguished group of past recipients that includes Aretha Franklin, B.B. King, Wayne Shorter and Stevie Wonder, among others.

The Competition has helped identify and launch the careers of many of today's leading jazz artists. Past vocal winners include Jazzmeia Horn, Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jane Monheit, Gretchen Parlato and Veronica Swift. Other Competition alumni include saxophonists Joshua Redman and Melissa Aldana, pianist Kris Bowers, bassist Ben Williams and trumpeters Ambrose Akinmusire and Marquis Hill, among many others.

The Competition's first presentation in Paris builds upon the city's deep appreciation for jazz. Born in the United States more than a century ago, jazz became an international language through generations of artists and cultural exchange, with Paris emerging as one of its most important centers. Over the decades, jazz musicians from all over the world relocated to Paris to expand their artistic horizons. The 2026 edition takes place during a particularly significant year in jazz history, marking the centennials of Miles Davis and John Coltrane, two artists who profoundly shaped the music and had strong ties to the French metropole. Davis developed an important relationship with Paris beginning with his 1949 appearance at the Festival International de Jazz. This year also marks a century since Josephine Baker's landmark 1926 performances at the Folies Bergère, launching the extraordinary career she built in Paris.

United Airlines, the Official Airline Partner of the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz, is providing travel to Paris for artists and competitors from throughout the world, bringing together the international community of musicians participating in this year's Competition.

Editors, please note the following event and livestream information:

Herbie Hancock Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition Semifinals
Saturday, October 10, live streamed from 1 p.m. – 5:30 p.m.
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris

Herbie Hancock Institute International Jazz Vocals Competition Finals and All-Star Gala Concert
Sunday, October 11, live streamed at 7:30 p.m.
Fondation Louis Vuitton, Paris

Tickets for both events were fully booked within days of becoming available through the Fondation Louis Vuitton website. However, audiences can watch both events live and free of charge online.

The Competition will be streamed worldwide on medici.tv, FLV Play—the video platform of the Fondation Louis Vuitton—Facebook, hancockinstitute.org, and in 4K on YouTube, allowing audiences throughout the world to experience the Semifinals and Finals live from Paris.

2026 Competition Semifinalist Bios

Joie Bianco is a vocalist, arranger, educator and bandleader from Staten Island, New York. A National YoungArts Finalist, she earned her bachelor's degree from the Frost School of Music at the University of Miami. Bianco is pursuing a master's degree from the Manhattan School of Music, where she studies with Theo Bleckmann. She has shared the stage with artists including Jane Monheit, Emmet Cohen, Joey Calderazzo and Peter Bernstein. Bianco is also a member of the Sunhouse Singers vocal trio.

Anouk Chemla is a vocalist, composer and arranger from Paris. Classically trained as a pianist at municipal conservatories in Paris, she went on to specialize in jazz voice, earning her bachelor's degree in jazz vocal performance from the New England Conservatory in Boston. Chemla has performed at renowned venues including the Philharmonie de Paris, La Boule Noire, Le Grand Rex, Sunset-Sunside Jazz Club and the Panama Jazz Festival. In 2025, she was selected for the prestigious Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead program at the Kennedy Center in Washington, DC.

Lucy-Anne Daniels from Leeds, United Kingdom grew up singing gospel and jazz and began performing at age 16. She received a bachelor's degree in jazz from the Royal Birmingham Conservatoire. The winner of the 2025 Tina May Jazz Award, Daniels has performed with the BBC Orchestra and at the BBC PROMS at Royal Albert Hall celebrating Sarah Vaughan's centennial. She was also featured with the National Youth Orchestra of the United Kingdom, where she served as composer and vocal musical director.

Georgia Heers attended high school at the Fine Arts Center in Greenville, South Carolina, and went on to receive her undergraduate degree from Oberlin College and Conservatory and her graduate degree from The Juilliard School. Heers has performed with Terell Stafford, Cyrus Chestnut, Nicholas Payton and Rodney Whitaker, among others. She is a grantee of Chamber Music America's Performance Plus program, funded by the Doris Duke Foundation. Heers was also featured in George Clooney's Broadway adaptation of Good Night, and Good Luck.

Courteney Hooper is a vocalist, composer and multi-instrumentalist from Adelaide, South Australia. She attended the Elder Conservatorium of Adelaide, where she studied jazz vocals. Hooper has performed with artists including Jazzmeia Horn, Victor Gould, Linda May Han Oh and James Muller and has been featured at the WOMADelaide Festival, UKARIA Cultural Center and Adelaide Fringe. She has received numerous awards including the Barn at the Wombat Flat Emerging Artists Scholarship, the Helpmann Academy Award and the David Hunter Music Education Prize.

Kate Kortum grew up in Houston and received her bachelor's degree from The Juilliard School and master's degree from the University of Miami. She is the winner of the 2025 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition and was recognized as a DownBeat Student Music Award winner and a National YoungArts Finalist. Kortum has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Cyrille Aimée, Peter Bernstein, the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra and many others. She is a member of the vocal group The Sunhouse Singers and has appeared on "Live from Emmet's Place."

Kristin Lash grew up in Slovakia and studied jazz at the Jaroslav Ježek Conservatory and College in Prague, Czech Republic. She was a finalist in the Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, a recipient of the Discovery of the Year Award at New Faces of Slovak Jazz, a winner of the Jazz StartUp Contest and a recipient of the Best Performance Award at Bratislava Jazz Days. Lash has performed with Esperanza Spalding, Walter Smith III, Keyon Harrold, Dominic Miller and Dianne Reeves. She is also one half of the award-winning duo Lash&Grey.

Zhenxuan "Jimmy" Lin is a vocalist from Guangzou, China who is pursuing a Bachelor of Music degree at the Berklee College of Music. Lin has performed at Carnegie Hall with the Berklee Carnegie Hall Jazz Large Ensemble and appeared at the Vocal Gumbo Festival and Vocal Gumbo Concert presented by Janis Siegel and Lauren Kinhan. He has studied with Tiger Okoshi, Vicente Archer, Peter Eldridge and Jacques Schwarz-Bart. Lin is inspired by the music of Nat King Cole, Ivan Lins and Cécile McLorin Salvant and uses his music to explore storytelling and improvisation through a range of genres.

Malou Oheix is a vocalist from Nantes, France who graduated as valedictorian from the Centre des Musique Didier Lockwood. In addition to singing, she studied classical piano in high school. Oheix has performed with artists including André Charlier, Benoît Sourisse, Louis Winsberg and Nick Smart and received instruction from Tierney Sutton, Manu Domergue and Déborah Tanguy. She has appeared on numerous recordings and won the 2nd Soloist Prize at the Sunside Jazz Awards. Oheix has returned to the Centre des Musique Didier Lockwood, her alma mater, as a guest instructor.

Ashley Pezzotti is a jazz vocalist, composer and educator who studied jazz vocals at the University of Miami. Pezzotti performs and composes music with lyrics in both English and Spanish, honoring her Dominican roots. She is a four-time National YoungArts winner and has performed with Wynton Marsalis, Arturo Sandoval, Dave Holland, Chick Corea and the Jazz at Lincoln Center Orchestra, among others. Pezzotti has participated in the GRAMMY in the Schools program and Betty Carter's Jazz Ahead. She is an adjunct professor at Florida International University.

Tawanda Suessbrich-Joaquim grew up in Las Cruces, New Mexico and began studying music at an early age. She attended the Santa Fe University of Art and Design, where she graduated with a bachelor's degree in contemporary music with a focus on jazz vocals. Suessbrich-Joaquim has performed with Postmodern Jukebox and Jeff Goldblum and the Mildred Snitzer Orchestra. The winner of the 2021 Sarah Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition, she served as a vocal mentor at the 26^th International Jazzinty workshop and festival in Slovenia. Suessbrich-Joaquim released her own album titled Smile and was featured on the Ivan Lins album My Heart Speaks.

Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz International Competition
Formerly the Thelonious Monk Institute of Jazz International Competition, the Hancock Institute Competition is recognized as the world's most prestigious jazz competition and for discovering the next generation of jazz masters, including saxophonist Joshua Redman; vocalists Cécile McLorin Salvant, Jane Monheit, Gretchen Parlato and Jazzmeia Horn; pianist Kris Bowers; bassist Ben Williams; and trumpeter Ambrose Akinmusire, among others. Major scholarships and prizes are awarded to the talented young musicians participating in the Competition. The scholarships help pay tuition for college-level jazz education studies and provide funds for private, specialized instruction. hancockinstitute.org/competition/

About the Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz
The Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz preserves, perpetuates and expands jazz as a global art form and utilizes jazz as a means to unite people of all ages, backgrounds and nationalities. The Institute is a nonprofit education organization offering the world's most promising young musicians college-level training by internationally acclaimed jazz masters and presenting public school music education programs for young people around the world. All of the Institute's programs are provided free of charge to students, schools and communities worldwide. These programs use jazz as the medium to encourage imaginative thinking, creativity, a positive self-image, and respect for one's own and others' cultural heritage. Jazz great Herbie Hancock serves as the Institute's chairman.

About Fondation Louis Vuitton
The Fondation Louis Vuitton is a leading cultural institution dedicated to making art accessible to all. The Fondation presents a dynamic program of contemporary and modern art exhibitions and live performances across disciplines, including a strong commitment to classical and jazz music programming in its state-of-the-art Auditorium. Its iconic building was designed by the late Frank Gehry, a longtime member of the Herbie Hancock Institute's Board of Trustees and a recipient of the Herbie Hancock Humanitarian Award. Since its inauguration in 2014, the Fondation has welcomed more than 12 million visitors, including a record 1.57 million visitors in 2025, becoming a landmark of contemporary architecture in Paris and a leading venue for international cultural programming.

For more information, please visit hancockinstitute.org or fondationlouisvuitton.fr.

SOURCE Herbie Hancock Institute of Jazz