12th Annual Sam Pitcher Memorial Scholarship Recipients Announced
January 20, 2015
L to R: Ezrie Anderson, Lily Vaughn, Dallin Ward, Katelin Kalbaugh, Nyah Edenshaw, Emmily Smith, and Maury Meiresonne.
Dallin Ward plays saxophone and is a vocalist. He plays with the KHS Wind ensemble and Jazz Band. His long-term goal is to go into music education or music performance in college. Emmily Smith has studied vocals, flute, guitar, and piano. She performs with the KHS band and choir. She was selected to play in Southeast Honor Band. She hopes to further her musical goals and qualify for other honor bands in the future. Ezrie Anderson plays percussion and piano. She plays with the Schoenbar band and jazz band as well as McPherson’s jazz band. She is interested in learning new techniques and performance skills that will help her qualify for more music opportunities when she gets to high school. Katelin Kalbaugh plays trumpet, piano and is a vocalist. She performs with the Schoenbar band and choir as well as McPherson’s jazz band. She is interested in meeting people with interests similar to hers at camp as well as improving her skills. She hopes to someday study music performance and/or music education in college. Maurice Meirsonne has played piano for seven years and more recently started playing tuba. He plays with the Schoenbar band and jazz band. He hopes to improve his skills in order to find opportunities to continue playing both piano and tuba in high school. Nyah Edenshaw is a vocalist. She has performed in several of First City Players’ musicals including this fall’s production of “Les Miserables” She hopes to continue to study music and music education in college.
Scholarship recipients are selected by a Ketchikan Area Arts & Humanities Council (KAAHC) advisory committee consisting of ten people, including Sam’s mother, Karen Hanson Pitcher. Pitcher said on behalf of the committee, "Reviewing the work of Ketchikan’s talented youth is always a pleasure. We are honored to provide support to the talented young musicians in Ketchikan!" The Sam Pitcher Music Scholarship Fund was established to honor the memory of Seming “Sam” Pitcher, a gifted young man who was active in the various music programs available in Ketchikan. Sam, a Ketchikan High School student, died from an inflammation of his heart in April 2003. He was 16 years old. Sam loved all types of music, and especially enjoyed playing and listening to music with his friends. Sam played the trumpet, fluglehorn and electric guitar with the McPherson Jazz Bands, the rock group “The Rubber Band,” and the KHS Wind Ensemble and Jazz Bands. He had the opportunity to attend both the Sitka Fine Arts Camp and Interlochen Fine Arts Camp in Michigan. The experiences gained while participating in these camps were very significant for Sam. The goal of the Sam Pitcher Music Scholarship is to help give other young musicians the opportunity to expand their music horizons by attending similar summer music programs. Two $500 scholarships were first awarded in 2004. In this 12th year, the number of scholarships awarded total 54, which results in an excess of $25,000 being distributed to recipients. The primary fundraiser for the scholarships is the Sam Pitcher Memorial Concert, “An Evening of Jazz, Blues and Rock,” which usually takes place in December. Tax-deductible donations can be made to the fund at any time in care of The Ketchikan Area Arts and Humanities Association, 330 Main Street, Ketchikan, AK 99901. The Sam Pitcher Memorial Scholarship Fund is a fiscally sponsored project of the KAAHC.
Edited by Mary Kauffman, SitNews
On the Web:
|
|||
