Here’s The Five Sassy Award Finalists
The New Jersey Performing Arts Center (NJPAC) in Newark has announced who the five finalists are for the 2025 Sassy Awards. The 14th Annual Sarah “Sassy” Vaughan International Jazz Vocal Competition will culminate November 23 as part of the James Moody Jazz Festival. (Vaughan and Moody were both from Newark.) Almost 200 singers from 27 countries vied for the honor.
The Final Five are Diamond Franklin from Philadelphia, Candace Jones from Florida, Katie Kortum from New York City, Julia Moscardini from Argentina and Emma Smith from London. They will compete in front of a live audience and celebrity judges—Broadway star Ann Hampton Callaway, trumpeter Jon Faddis, vocalist Nnenna Freelon, bassist Christian McBride and vocalist Janis Siegel. McBride is the Artistic Advisor for NJPAC Jazz Programming. Sigel founded The Manhattan Transfer group and co-hosts “Singers Unlimited” over WBGO, Newark’s nationally-known jazz radio station. WBGO’s Gary Walker will host the proceedings. The 2023 winner, Tyreek McDole, will perform. The 2012 winner, Cyrille Aimee, from France, now a big star, can be seen in the clip below.