Jazz pianist Utar Artun and vocalist Başak Yavuz will head to the 58th Grammy Awards as jury members this coming February. Residing in Boston, Artun, 28, will be the youngest member of next year's jury committee. After graduating from the State Conservatory of Hacettepe University, Artun then studied at the Berklee College of Music on a grant. He won the Honorary Award at the Berklee Symphony Orchestra's (BCSO) composition competition.
The second Turkish jury member, Başak Yavuz, studied at the Manhattan School of Music and took lessons from prestigious figures like David Liebman, Peter Eldridge, Theo Bleckmann, Darmon Meader, Jay Clayton and Phil Markowitz. Performing in Turkey, the U.S., Canada and European countries, Yavuz released her album "Things" in 2013. She currently lectures at Bahçeşehir University and Bilgi University. The annual music awards ceremony will be live from Staples Center in Los Angeles on Feb. 15. The 57th Grammy Awards had 24.8 million viewers. British soul singer Sam Smith won four Grammies including record of the year, song of the year, best new artist and pop vocal album. Madonna, Beyonce, Kanye West and Katy Perry gave performances.
