Jazz pianist Tony Roe has won the Boy Edgar Prize 2024 on 27 June. The jury, consisting of Cécile de Vos (chair), Mike Bindraban, Marieke Meischke, Bart Maris, Maite Hontelé, Corrie van Binsbergen, Shishani Vranckx, Bert van den Brink and Raluca Baicu, was unanimous in their choice: ‘Pianist, composer and band leader Tony Roe is a versatile musician. His mastery of the piano is undeniable, but it is his free vision that makes his work distinctive. Roe creates a unique blend of jazz and technology, working across genres and bringing a new dimension to audience experience. He is intelligent, engaged and an innovator within jazz and improvised music.’

Tony Roe (Amsterdam, 1979) obtained his master’s degree in jazz piano at the Conservatorium van Amsterdam in 2009. Together with Jamie Peet and Pat Cleaver he forms the jazz piano trio Tin Men and the Telephone, for which he composes and creates interactive visuals. He not only stands out with his music, in which he combines elements of classical music, hip-hop, electronic music and Latin American rhythms, but also with his innovative homemade software.
Tony Roe has also collaborated with the Metropole Orchestra, ISH Dance Collective, Noord Nederlands Toneel (NNT), Asko|Schönberg Ensemble, Room Eleven, and Janne Schra. His show with audiovisual artist Marcel Wierckx, Modular Piano, is a fine example of the interaction between the piano, synthesizers and interactive visual projections.

The Boy Edgar Prize is the most important prize in the Netherlands in the field of jazz and improvised music. It is an initiative of Fonds Podiumkunsten in cooperation with Buma Cultuur, among others.