Sarah Jane Cion was the 1st Place Winner of the internationally acclaimed 17th Annual Great American Jazz Piano Competition held in Jacksonville Florida on November 11th, 1999. The judges were Horace Silver, Kenny Barron, Ellis Marsalis, Benny Green and Bill Charlap. Ms. Cion’s trio performed in Japan at the prestigious Fukuoka Blue Note for the month of January in 2000 and Sarah appeared on the Nationally syndicated NPR radio show “Piano Jazz” with Marian McPartland on February 8th, 2000.Sarah has performed with young and older jazz legends such as Clark Terry, Etta Jones, Anita O’Day, Della Griffin, Ralph Lalama, Alan Harris, Carmen Leggio, Dr. Lyn Christie, Bucky Pizzarelli, Don Braden, and many others. She is often found performing with New York City mainstay big bands such as the Lew Anderson Big Band at Birdland and is currently performing with bestselling author and tenorman James McBride. Her debut CD, Indeed! features alto saxophonist Antonio Hart, drummer Tony Reedus and other young jazz giants. Her second CD Moon Song was released internationally on the Naxos Jazz label in May of 2000 featuring Phil Palombi, Chris Potter and Billy Hart. Moon Song was the 4th best selling Modern Jazz album in Japan in April 2000, and reached number 15 on the U.S. Gavin Reports on June 22nd, 2000.