Sophomore Bromfield wins jazz scholarship

Ben Bromfield, a Pitt sophomore majoring in music and psychology, has been awarded the 2007… Ben Bromfield, a Pitt sophomore majoring in music and psychology, has been awarded the 2007 Pitt-Mellon Jazz Scholarship.

The annual scholarship is a $5,000 tuition grant given to a Pitt music student who submits the best recording of jazz standards to a panel of nationwide jazz musicians. The Bank of New York Mellon and Pitt fund the grant.

Outside the classroom, Bromfield is kept busy with many other musical projects. He plays keyboard for The Known World, who plays a monthly billing at the Club Cafe on the South Side. He also plays with Pitt hip-hop group the BMVz and often jams with the professional jazz musicians at Gullifty’s restaurant in Squirrel Hill. Beside these groups, his own Ben Bromfield Trio performs for parties and receptions on- and off-campus.

Last May Bromfield traveled with the Pitt Jazz Ensemble to Negril, Jamaica to perform for rural schoolchildren.

Bromfield chose to attend Pitt because the music program fits his ambition.

“Some of the bigger music programs are more structured, and you can’t pursue as many projects,” Ben said in a press release. “Here, I am studying psychology – the academic subject that interests me the most – and playing jazz, the style of music closest to my heart.”

Bromfield has studied jazz piano since he was 7 years old and performed in high school with rock band The Press, who has recorded an album recently and is currently seeking a record label.

This was the 21st year that Pitt and Mellon Jazz, the entity that funds the grant, awarded the scholarship.