Judges 2025

Our panel of judges for the New Age Notes Music Awards 2025. Winners to be announced March 15, 2025. ENTER HERE

OUR 2024 OFFICIAL WINNERS – COMPLETE LIST

OUR 2024 NOMINEES ARE HERE – COMPLETE LIST

 

SEAN O’BRYAN SMITH:

Sean O’Bryan Smith is an award-winning film composer, author, producer, music business executive and recording artist. As a musician, he has recorded and/or performed with over 100 major and independent recording artists worldwide in multiple genres.

Sean originally emerged onto the new age/world scene in 2012 while on the Australian record label Wolf Entertainment. His single “Rain” from the album “Tapestry” became an international jazz/new age crossover hit. The album also included the single “Vashon” which was featured on multiple new age stations overseas. These ventures into the genre continued when a number of Sean’s original compositions from the Indian motion picture Mrigtrishna were heavily featured on a collection of ambient/new age works in India. Over the next few years, Sean continued working with top names in multiple genres while composing new age, ambient and chill compositions in his free time.

In 2019, Sean made the decision to focus his creative outlets in our associated genres and quickly made a name for himself with guest appearances on projects by Ambiente Solstice, Brannan Lane, Chinmaya Dunster, ELEON and John Gregorius. This led Sean to consulting with the ambient label Wayfarer Records in early 2023 where he eventually assumed the role of Director of Artist Development and Relations. Sean was instrumental in placing Wayfarer’s artists on top radio programs and podcasts as well as tripling the size of the artist roster. In mid-2024, Sean became one of the co-owners of Wayfarer (now rebranded Wayfarer Music Group) and took on the role of President where he now serves.

 

JOHN LUTTRELL

John Luttrell is a composer, producer, singer-songwriter, and performer. His multi-genre music includes solo works on guitar and piano, ambient/electronic, and progressive rock, as well as scores for media and films.

Radio:  John Luttrell is the host, producer, studio engineer, and music director at The Morning Breeze and Planetary Jam. Since 2006, John supported The Morning Breeze, hosted by Donna Jo “DJ” Thornton on 88.5FM KSBR in Orange County, CA and since 2018 on Planetary Jam web radio.

 

REBEKAH EDEN:

Discovering the ethereal, otherworldly music of Rebekah Eden is to behold a ravishing jewel bathed in Light. First, you’re struck dumb with awe, then you’re filled with grace. The unique talent of this singer/composer/producer crosses all musical boundaries. Since 1987, her shimmering soprano of 3-1/2 octaves has been thrilling audiences around the world in repertoire as diverse as opera, avant-garde and classical song, but especially in her own compositions that leave audiences deeply moved by their transcendental sacredness. Critics have called her performances “gorgeous” and “majestic.” Her own music has been described as “A Score for the Divine.” Rowing in Eden enjoyed universal critical acclaim and a top 10 placement on the ZMR radio airplay charts for New Age/World Music. Two nominations followed for “Best Vocal Album of 2016:”a ZMR Music Award nomination and a OWR Music Award nomination. Subsequently, a happy collaboration with fellow nominee, composer Terry Lee Nichols, arose out of the ZMR Event; their joint album We Have Only Come to Dream was released in the spring of 2018 and debuted in 3rd place on the ZMR radio airplay charts in April, garnering thrilling reviews both nationally and internationally.

 

Born and raised in Oakland, CA, Kathy Parsons started playing the piano at about age 5. Art and music were always the driving forces in her life, and she graduated from the California College of Arts and Crafts with a BFA degree. When she began teaching piano a few years later, she also started writing a monthly newsletter, Pianotes, for her students that opened many doors for her and allowed her to communicate with a variety of  composers and artists – especially as the so-called “new age” piano genre evolved. Seeing new age as a bridge between pop and classical music, Kathy discovered that students of all ages could readily identify with this style of music. As sheet music came into print, she incorporated the best of it into her teaching repertoire. She also included contemporary composer bios and interviews in Pianotes along with classical composers, and eventually started doing in-home student workshops with some of her favorite contemporary composers.

Kathy lived in the San Francisco Bay Area until mid-2007 when she relocated to Florence, OR (on the central Oregon Coast). After writing reviews and interviews for the print version of Wind and Wire magazine (1997-99), she became the principal writer for SoloPianoPublications.com. In 2008, she decided to start her own website, which became MainlyPiano.com and is still going strong with a wide variety of reviews, interviews and articles.

After moving to Oregon, Kathy started a house concert series which featured  many different artists, but mostly focused on solo piano. She was given the 2014 MVP Award by Whisperings Solo Piano Radio for her support of artists in a variety of capacities. When the Covid pandemic hit in 2020, Kathy retired from teaching piano (after 40 years!) and has been focused on MainlyPiano.com and proof-reading piano sheet music ever since.

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COMPLETE LIST OF THE OFFICIAL 2024 WINNERS

 THE WINNERS OF THE NEW AGE NOTES MUSIC AWARDS, 2023 WERE: