2016 Scholarship Competition

2016 Scholarship Recipients Awarded

On Saturday, April 2, 2016, Friday Musicale and the Florida Federation for Music: St. John’s District co-presented their scholarship competitions at the Friday Musicale Auditorium, located at 645 Oak Street, Jacksonville, FL 32204.

2016 Applicants & Judges
2016 Scholarship Competition judges & applicants

Applications were available throughout February and March 2016 and were open to all graduating high school seniors that would be majoring in music in college.

Each participant auditioned two memorized pieces and were judged based on performance only. Students were eligible to receive more than one scholarship. Judging the competition were University of North Florida Professor of Viola Dr. Renate Falkner, Assistant Professor & Coordinator of Piano Studies at the University of Central Florida Dr. Yun-Lin Hsu, and Founder and Director of the Morris Music Academy and President of Beaches Fine Arts, saxophonist Tracy Morris.

Hamza Abouelhouda
Hamza Abouelhouda, percussion

Friday Musicale’s Marian Armington Waterman Poitevent Instrumental Scholarship for $4,000 per year for four consecutive years was awarded to Hamza Abouelhouda, percussion. Hamza is a senior at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and has studied music for six years, currently with Ken Every for timpani and master classes from Kevin Gary and Joel Panian.  He is originally from Casablanca, Morocco and moved to the United States in 2008 and to Jacksonville in 2009. Hamza is attending the Manhattan School of Music this fall. He has also won the Jacksonville Symphony Youth Orchestra’s 2015 Young Artist Competition [and scholarship] for concerto and Jacksonville University’s First Coast Wind Symphony’s 2016 Concerto Competition [and scholarship].  Hamza says he has always loved classical music, and while he enjoys performing solo and contemporary, he plans to pursue an orchestral music career.

The 2016 Mary Elizabeth Land Scholarship for Piano for $500 was awarded to Viann Yu.  Viann is a senior at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and has studied music for eleven years, currently with Peggy Edwards. She is originally from Hong Kong and moved to the United States in 2010. Viann has been accepted and is attending the Mannes School of Music this fall.

2016 Scholarship Recipients
Hamza Abouelhouda, Cassia Wang, Ana-Sofia Pozo, Viann Yu

The 2016 FFMC District President’s Scholarship for Piano St. John’s District for $500 was awarded to Cassia Wang. Cassia is a senior at Ponte Vedra High School and has studied piano for twelve years and violin for eleven years, currently with Huifang Chen for violin and Kamila Shahtakhtinski for piano. Originally from Palo Alto, California, she has also lived in Memphis, Tennessee and moved to Jacksonville in 2010. Cassia has been accepted to and is considering attending both the Cleveland Institute of Music and the University of Miami Frost School of Music this fall.

The 2016 FFMC District President’s Scholarship for Instrument or Voice other than Strings or Piano St. John’s District for $500 was awarded to Hamza Abouelhouda, percussion.

The 2016 FFMC District President’s Scholarship for Strings St. John’s District for $500 was awarded to Ana-Sofia Pozo, violin. Ana-Sofia is a senior at Douglas Anderson School of the Arts and has studied violin for nine years. She has been accepted to and is considering attending Florida State University, University of South Carolina, University of North Florida, Jacksonville University and the University of Central Florida this fall.

As early as 1910, Friday Musicale was raising money for music in public schools and sponsoring “Children’s Days” with programs for and by children. The club purchased instruments, and provided music lessons and scholarships to summer music camps in Asheville, NC and Interlochen, MI. In 1944, philanthropic work became a separate department composed of past presidents living in the city. Philanthropic scholarships for promising students began in the 1930s. In the 1960s, the department established several college scholarships. The Philanthropic Committee decided to hold auditions for scholarships annually, beginning April 2, 2005.

Friday Musicale will present its Scholarship Laureates in concert on Friday, May 27, 2016 at 7:30pm at the Friday Musicale Auditorium, 645 Oak Street, Jacksonville, FL 32204. Doors will open at 7:00pm. Concert is free and open to the public.