Matteo Prefumo in the Semifinals of the International Songwriting Competition

On February 28th, Jazz guitarist and composer Matteo Prefumo entered the semifinals of the prestigious International Songwriting Competition in the JAZZ and INSTRUMENTAL categories, selected among 15,000 participants. The competition is divided by genres and features some of the most important musicians in today’s music industry, such as Jack Dejohnette, Danilo Perez, Coldplay, Mariah Carey to name a few. For this occasion, the Genoese musician presented his new single “A NEW BEGINNING,” a self-produced song released on July 22nd, recorded with some of the most prominent young jazz musicians of the current jazz scene: Tony Tixier on piano, Josh Ginsburg on double bass, and Francesco Ciniglio on drums. Two Grammy Award winners were also involved in the post-production: Rich Breen and Ted Jensen. Previous editions of the award were won by musicians such as Thana Alexa, Will Vinson, Jazzmeia Horn, Omar Sosa, Pete Levin. “It is a great honor for me to have reached the semifinals in this competition, and what pleases me even more is knowing that on the other side, judging the competition, there are two musicians whom I have adored since I was a child: Jack Dejohnette, who is an absolute idol to me, and Danilo Perez” – explains Matteo – “A NEW BEGINNING is a single in which I have believed very much and to which I am very attached. All this would not have been possible without the participation of the other three musicians who played with me during the recording”. The single has already been broadcasted on many international jazz radios such as JAZZ FM in the United Kingdom, MVFM in Australia, 88.5 WMNF in the United States, and many other NPR and American college radio stations. It has accumulated approximately 60,000 listens on social media channels.