News

Teresa Um received three College/Graduate awards at the 49th DownBeat Student Music Awards: winner in Original Composition (Large Ensemble) for Phonophobia and Original Composition (Small Ensemble/Combo) for Wheel of Chronicles, and Outstanding Arrangement Big Band for Airegin.

The DownBeat Student Music Awards, presented annually by DownBeat Magazine, celebrate exceptional student achievement across performance, composition, and arranging at the collegiate and graduate level.

The ASCAP Foundation has announced Teresa Um as a recipient of the 2026 Herb Alpert Young Jazz Composer Award.

Established in 2002, the prestigious program recognizes gifted jazz composers up to age 30 through a juried national competition. Named after legendary trumpeter Herb Alpert, the award highlights emerging creators who demonstrate significant promise in shaping the future of the jazz art form.

Read the official announcement here.

Teresa Um has been announced as the winner of the 2026 Fundamental Freedoms Commission by the International Society of Jazz Arrangers & Composers (ISJAC).

This prestigious international commission is awarded annually to an outstanding female or non-binary jazz composer. As the 2026 recipient, Teresa will compose a new original work to be premiered at an upcoming ISJAC Symposium event in 2027.

Read the official announcement here.

Teresa’s original composition, Phonophobia, is featured as the opening track on Lab 2025, the latest album by the seven-time Grammy-nominated UNT One O'Clock Lab Band. Directed by Alan Baylock, the album showcases the premier ensemble of the University of North Texas Jazz Studies program.

This studio recording captures the dynamic energy of the piece and is now available on all major streaming platforms.

Honored by the International Alliance for Women in Music (IAWM), Teresa's composition "Phonophobia" has won the 2025 Portland Jazz Composers Ensemble Prize. The award celebrates exceptional new works for jazz ensembles.

Read the official announcement here.

Teresa's composition, "Wheel of Chronicles", music for classical string quartet and jazz quartet, was chosen as a winning piece in the 2025 Bridges Composition Competition. The work was premiered at the Ravinia Institute on June 10, 2025.

Learn more about the program here.

Teresa received a 2025 DownBeat 48th Student Music Awards in recognition of her outstanding arrangement of the Wayne Shorter classic, "Aung San Suu Kyi".

The DownBeat Student Music Awards, presented annually by DownBeat Magazine, celebrate exceptional student achievement across performance, composition, and arranging at the collegiate and graduate level.

As part of the Music on Canvas project, Teresa performed a live, improvised solo guitar piece. Her performance, presented at River City Bangkok in September 2023, was a direct musical interpretation of a painting by artist Sikarej Siripaibulya.

Teresa won 1st place and the "Best Soloist" award at the 2023 Thailand International Jazz Conference (TIJC) Solo Competition, hosted by the College of Music, Mahidol University. The annual event is a premier platform for jazz education and performance in Southeast Asia.

The final round was evaluated by a panel of established New York jazz artists, including Javon Jackson, Delfeayo Marsalis, Jeremy Manasia, David Williams, and Willie Jones III. This recognition for her jazz guitar performance marks a notable milestone in her ongoing musical development.

Teresa's original composition, "The Alchemist", was performed on the main stage of the 2023 Thailand International Jazz Conference by the Mahidol Jazz Orchestra, featuring special guest Pekka Pylkkänen.