On July 30th it was announced that I had been awarded the 2018 Giorgio Gaslini International Award. I feel very honored by this recognition and I am looking forward to the possibilities it will facilitate. On October 6th I will travel to Italy to receive the award and in November I will be playing a concert at the ParmaJazz Frontiere Festival, as is tradition for the winner to do. In a few weeks I will be moving to Oslo to commence the third semester of my master studies and