Kaz performs on Show 435.

Kaz Hudson (guitar), 17, hails from Centennial, Colorado, and is a senior at Smoky Hill High School in Aurora, Colorado. He began playing the guitar at the age of 10, studying classical guitar first from the Suzuki Method under the direction of Mike Hyland, and later moving on to study with Jonathan Leathwood from the Lamont School of Music. In the summer of 2022, Kaz attended the Classical Guitar Institute at the Brevard Music Center Summer Festival, a program run by Adam Holzman. His experience at Brevard inspired him to begin competing and applying for various other musical opportunities. This led to Kaz winning First Place in the Denver Guitar Festival Competition this fall. Alongside classical guitar, Kaz also studies jazz guitar under Mike Hyland and has performed in various jazz combos and big bands as a student in the Colorado Conservatory for the Jazz Arts.

Kaz also enjoys playing the trumpet and has participated in multiple honor bands throughout Colorado as a trumpet player. He is involved in both the concert and jazz bands at his high school, and performs in the pit orchestra for his school’s musicals.

Receiving the Jack Kent Cooke Young Artist Award will enable him to pay for college audition costs as well as purchase a high-quality guitar that will carry him through college and into the professional field.