Seven Kingswood music students received recognition for their musical interests this winter from Wolfeboro Friends of Music. The awards provide funds used to help further individuals’ music education by private lessons, upgrading instruments and equipment, and attending music camps. Funding for the grants is provided through Friends of Music’s William H. Gibson Fund. The fund was set up to provide grants to students to encourage their appreciation of music and improve their music skills. The fund is supported by a portion of tickets sales at our concerts and by directed charitable contributions. This year WFOM had applications for awards from fifteen students. Each of these students wrote essays that clearly demonstrated musical interest and need. Each application was reviewed by a committee of the Wolfeboro Friends of Music made up of WFOM board members and music educators at Kingswood. Unfortunately in order to provide a meaningful amount to each of the awardees, WFOM was only able to make seven awards.
Standing: Cameron MacDonald, Carl Crosley (President WFOM), Abigail Larkin
Seated: Eileen McKenna, Mercedes Shehan, Anna Lucas
Missing: Victoria Baxter, Angela Nicastro
Victoria Baxter is a 10th grader at Kingswood Regional High School. She plays the flute and is part of the high school band, the Cate Park band, the high school chorus, and the Route 28 a capella group. She plans to use her award for voice training. She is hoping to improve her vocal range and improve her a capella skills.
Mercedes Sheehan is a 7th grader at Kingswood Regional Middle School. She hopes someday to be a professional singer. She plays the guitar and will use her award for additional guitar training.
Abigail Larkin is also a 7th grade student at KRMS. She plays the recorder, the clarinet and the mountain dulcimer. Recently she was at Kentucky Music Week where she had the opportunity to play the nine note bowed psaltery. She has been involved in a number of musical programs including a jazz band. She hopes to use her award for advanced clarinet lesions.
Cameron MacDonald is an 8th grade student at KRMS. He has been playing the piano for over five years. He has played for the Brewster Academy jazz band and as an accompanist for the middle school chorus. He says his current training has given him the technical skills to expand his playing abilities into several genres. He will use his award to further his piano expertise with additional training.
Eileen McKenna is also an 8th grader at KRMS. Her piano training began four years ago. Her inspiration to continue her musical training she says comes from the wonderful experiences she had with her grandmother and her piano playing and singing of hymns. That unfortunately ended when her grandmother died earlier this year. She will use her award for piano lessons.
Anna Lucas is a 7th grade student at KRMS. She plays the flute and the piano. Anna has been a flautist for four years. Her flute which was originally her mother’s is in need for a major refurbishing. Anne intends to use her award to have her family flute made more playable.
Angela Nicastro attends 10th grade at Kingswood Regional High School. Anna plays clarinet and tenor saxophone and recently learned the keyboard. She is part of the band, the pep band and the jazz band at the high school. Angela hopes to use her award to upgrade her instruments.
Last year Wolfeboro Friends of Music made awards to nine students. In addition to the funding of these awards, the Gibson Fund provides for financial awards to graduating seniors who have shown leadership in the high school music program as well as special music programs in the Governor Wentworth Regional School District. For the first time last year the WFOM Gibson fund was able to award one and two week long music camp experiences at the University of New Hampshire SYMS program.
Individual donations to the Gibson Fund are welcomed and may be sent payable to Wolfeboro Friends of Music, PO Box 2056, Wolfeboro NH 03894. Please note Gibson Fund on the memo line.
Friends of Music is supported in part by grant from the New Hampshire State Council on the Arts and the National Endowment for the Arts.