FBISF Foundation presents music oriented scholarships

FBISF Foundation presents music oriented scholarships

Once again, this year the Frank Brown Foundation for Music presented scholarship awards to a college bound Baldwin County high school and an Escambia County high school senior. The scholarship award received generous support from the Perdido Key Chamber of Commerce. Proceeds from the November 2017 Chamber golf tournament greatly enhanced the dollar amount of the award in both counties.
With support from the Baldwin County Board of Education and the Escambia County School District, the Foundation solicited essays from students asking them to describe their interest in music, the role it plays in their lives and the way they see it shaping their future. A number of compelling essays were received and the Foundation Scholarship Award Committee found it extremely difficult to choose the recipient. Two well deserving young people were chosen to receive the awards.
In Baldwin County, Fairhope High School senior Caleb Smith is the recipient. Caleb plans to attend the University of Southern Mississippi to major in Recording Industry Music Production and intends to have a career as a music producer and an audio engineer. He plays several instruments and has been a member of a number of choirs. He has also been a sound and light technician for Fairhope High Theater productions as well as in several churches in the area.
The Escambia County recipient is Escambia High School senior Anthony Tenorio who will be attending Troy University, majoring in music education with plans to be a band director. Anthony plays clarinet and keyboards and has arranged and composed a number of songs both original as well as from other people. His musical endeavors have seen him receive significant recognitions.
In addition to the Scholarship Program the Frank Brown Foundation for Music offers an “In Schools Outreach Program.” These presentations bring a professional songwriter in to speak to students of varying ages, combining performance as well as an interactive question and answer segment during which the students can ask about the process of songwriting. Presentations include general instruction on the subject, and the instructor addresses the various aspects of songwriting as a career.
Per the program director, Karen E. Reynolds: “Our goal is for the student’s excitement in songwriting and writing in general to carry on beyond the presentation.” Statistics show that programs such as this can benefit the students in a variety of ways, including social skills, self-confidence and self-esteem, plus the considerable benefits to a student’s Mathematic, English and vocabulary skills.
The program is offered at no cost to the schools. Presentations have historically been conducted during the ten days of the annual Frank Brown Songwriters Festival. However, support by the Frank Brown Foundation for Music and others has enabled the program to be extended to a year-round basis.
An additional component of the Schools Program is a Youth Showcase that has been staged in Gulf Shores for a number of years. The City of Gulf Shores along with Lulu’s sponsored and hosted the event at the City of Gulf Shores Cultural Center in 2017. Four hundred students from area schools were treated to the sounds of original songs written and performed by a dozen of their peers. The songs were evaluated and critiqued by a panel of professional songwriters with the winner earning a spot in the 2018 Frank Brown Songwriters’ Festival. Success of the Youth Showcase has resulted in plans to add the event in a Pensacola location in 2019.
The foundation produces the 34 year old, iconic and nationally recognized Frank Brown International Songwriters’ Festival each year in November. Over a ten day period, thousands of visitors from all over the United States come to see and hear over 200 Grammy Award winning and up and coming songwriters perform their songs and tell the stories of how those songs came to exist.
More info: andy@fbisf.com or 251-978-6213.
Pictured: Festival/Foundation Director Andy Haynes presenting scholarship award to Caleb Smith of Fairhope High School and Anthony Tenorio of Escambia High School