CT teen jazz prodigy wins national honor
Anton Kot graduated last year from the jazz program at Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven
For Connecticut jazz prodigy Anton Kot, the honors and experiences just keep piling up.
Kot, 18, of Milford, is part of a traditional Indonesian gamelan ensemble at Wesleyan University. He’s composing two pieces for the New Haven Symphony Orchestra. And he’s just been named a 2021 National YoungArts Foundation Finalist in jazz percussion.
“Finalist” in this case means “winner”; hundreds of teens across the country receive honors in a range of artistic disciplines. Winners are chosen by experts in each artistic endeavor, through a blind adjudication process. Through YoungArts, they have access to training and professional development opportunities. The award includes $10,000, the opportunity to apply for further fellowships and awards, instruction from the likes of Wynton Marsalis and other musicians, and access to a professional support network that will help him avoid the pitfalls of a career in the arts.
Kot graduated last year from the jazz program at Educational Center for the Arts in New Haven and is now enrolled in the music program at New York University.
Reached at his NYU dorm room last week, Kot had just spent a week attending National YoungArts Week+, which included a week of virtual workshops, networking and mentoring held by the foundation. Kot met via Zoom with such jazz greats as Jeremy Manasia and trumpeter Tom Williams. The YoungArts faculty even included someone Kot knew
from his Connecticut jazz studies: Javon Jackon, professor of Jazz Saxophone at the University of Hartford’s Hartt School.
Kot’s been playing jazz “for as long as I can remember. Piano since I was maybe 4, and drums even earlier. Whether or not I had lessons, I just gravitated towards those instruments.”
On Jan. 17, Kot is headlining the prestigious local Baby Grand Jazz concert series at Hartford Public Library. For the concert, he’s teaming up with pianist Paul Arslanian and bassist Steven Bulmer, whom he last played with at a Jazz Prodigy concert at the Berkshire Athenaeum. For the Hartford Library, which will be performed live for streaming, Kot says he “will likely rotate on piano and drums. We’ll perform in person at the library and they’ll stream it.”
He’s also part of a YoungArts concert Jan. 26 at 8 p.m., the jazz portion of a wide-ranging presentation by the foundation 2021 finalists. For that one, he says, “the musicians are all recording on our own, then our parts will be layered together.”
“I like exploring, meeting with other people, finding out if they’re into other artists than I am. It’s this idea of inspirations, finding new things.” His personal favorites range from drummers Montez Coleman, Art Blakey and Gregory Hutchinson to “A Charlie Brown Christmas” composer/pianist Vince Guaraldi. In Connecticut, he’s learned from and/ or played with such respected local jazz players as drummer Jesse Hameen II, pianist Rex Cadwallader and bassist Jeff Fuller.