Music Club scholarship winners include: from top left, Claire Morison, Jonathan Mario Boccarossa, Laura Quillen, Layla Marshall, Molly Bledsoe, and Robert Webber.

Music Club announces 2008 Scholarship Winners

BRISTOL, Tenn. -- Ten young musicians are winners of the Bristol Music Club Scholarship Competition. They were presented in a recital in May at First Presbyterian Church, Bristol, Tenn.

Division I winners (high school seniors) who will study applied music in college are Hannah Dishman, Voice (Mezzo-Soprano), First Place; and Molly Bledsoe, Alto Saxophone, Second Place.

• Dishman, daughter of Mike and Debbie Dishman of Bristol, Va., graduated from Bristol Virginia High School (BVHS) and is a voice student of Mark Owen Davis. Other music awards include first place in Divisions II and IV, Bristol Music Club; Lions Club of Virginia Bland Memorial Music Scholarship Contest ? first place vocalist in local, district and state competition; All-Virginia chorus; and BVHS Choral Department Outstanding Vocalist. Additionally, Dishman is a piano student of Connie Wurster; keyboardist and bassist for BVHS bands; plays forward on the school's soccer team, and is active in its Drama Department productions. She plans to attend the University of Southern Mississippi in Hattiesburg, majoring in Vocal Performance.
• Bledsoe, daughter of Jack and Vicki Bledsoe of Kingsport, Tenn., studies alto sax with Tom Crawford. She graduated from Sullivan Central High School (SCHS), where she was a member of the marching, jazz, and concert bands, and saxophone section leader for two years. She has been a member of the Symphony of the Mountains Youth Orchestra (SMYO) for four years, and a member of SMYO's saxophone quartet for one year. In addition, she has participated in several honor bands, placing first chair in All County and ETSU Honors Band; participated in All State East Band for three years; and spent the summer of 2006 at Appalachian State University's Cannon Music Camp, where she was selected to participate in the Honors Saxophone Quartet. She also has performed as a member of the Milligan College saxophone quartet and received the Louis Armstrong Award for Jazz in 2007 and the Director's Award from SCHS in 2008. She plans to attend ETSU, majoring in Music Performance.

Winners for Division II, grades 10-12, are Lydia Smythe, Piano, First Place; and Layla Marshall, Piano, Second Place.

• Smythe is the daughter of Dan and Kimberly Smythe of Meadowview, Va. A home schooled student, she was in the 10th grade, and a piano student of Ann Holler. She has participated in the Sonata Festival and Appalachian Music Teachers Association (AMTA) auditions, and enjoys choral singing and competitive swimming.
• Marshall, daughter of Mack and Amber Marshall of Johnson City, Tenn., studies piano with Dr. Don Conflenti, and was in the 11th grade at Science Hill High School, where she is a member of the wind ensemble. Other musical activities include 2008 First Chair Oboe, All-State Orchestra and acceptance in the 2007 Tennessee Governor's School for the Arts in both piano and oboe (attended for oboe).

In Division III, Grades 7-9, Katherine Benson, Piano, and Jedidiah Smith, Piano, tied for First Place. Claire Morison, Violin, received Honorable Mention.

• Benson, daughter of Dr. Paul and Betty Jean Benson of Jonesborough, Tenn., was in the eighth grade at University School. She studies piano with Jerilyn Paolini, violin with Galina Timofeev, and musical composition with Dr. Maria Niederberger. Other awards include Appalachian Music Teachers Association (AMTA) seventh grade state winner (piano); second place, 2007 Bristol Music Club competition; first runner-up, MTNA Tennessee State competition in piano; and first place, Franklin Math Bowl Algebra Division in 2007. A "straight-A" student, Benson also accompanies the University Middle School Chorus and composes music.

• Smith, the son of Mark and Lori Smith of Bluff City, Tenn., is home schooled and was in the seventh grade. He studies piano with Ivy Blair and has received superior ratings for piano performance at the National Federation of Music Clubs, the Appalachian Music Teachers Association, and the Sonata/Sonatina Festival. He earned second place at the 2007 Bristol Music Club Scholarship Auditions and enjoys writing music and performing with his family. His hobbies include basketball and building with Legos.

• Morison, daughter of Whit and Jane Morison of Bristol, Va., studies violin and Celtic fiddling with Jane MacMorran, and was the 2007 first place winner in the Bristol Music Club Auditions' Elementary Division. A member of the Symphony of the Mountains Youth Orchestra and the East Tennessee Children's Choir, she was named Most Outstanding Violin Student at Sullins Academy four times, and has performed in the Tunes @ Noon series at the Paramount Center in Bristol for the past two summers. A seventh grade honor roll student at Virginia Middle School, Morison recently was selected to sing in the 2008 National Youth Honor Choir at the Organization of American Kodaly Educators. She enjoys arranging music, reading, writing, cycling, puzzles, sketching, and playing with her guinea pig.

In Division IV, Grades 4-6, Laura Quillen, Violin, and Robert Weber, Voice, tied for First Place. Jonathan Mario Boccarossa, Piano, received Honorable Mention.

• Quillen, the daughter of Jeff and Donna Quillen, of Kingsport, Tenn., studies violin with Jane MacMorran and viola with Kellie Brown. A sixth grader at Robinson Middle School, she was the winner of the Outstanding Ensemble player award and received honorable mention as Junior High soloist at the 2007 Sonata Festival (she plays cello in her middle school orchestra). She is also principal violist in the Symphony of the Mountains Youth Orchestra (SMYO) and received the SMYO summer music camp scholarship in 2007 and 2008.
• Weber, son of Robert and Sara Weber of Jonesborough, Tenn., is presently home schooled and was in the 5th grade. He studies voice with Ivy Blair and piano with Carlene Eastridge. In the 2007-2008 school year, Weber participated in the Sonata/Sonatina Festival; the National Federation of Music Clubs' Junior Festival at ETSU_in the vocal division;_and in the vocal auditions for the Appalachian Music Teachers Association held at ETSU, with high ratings. His credits include the leading role in Theatre Bristol's Oliver! at age 8; the role of Jim Hawkins in Kingsport Theater Guild's Treasure Island at age 9 and Charlie in KTG's The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. He recently performed with ETSU Opera in Aaron Copland's The Tender Land.
• Boccarossa, a sixth grader at Providence Academy, is the son of Susan and Gerry Boccarossa of Blountville, Tenn., and studies piano with Ann Holler. He has participated in the Sonatina Festival with a superior rating, and received a gold cup from the Junior Festival.

The Bristol Music Club, founded in 1915, has awarded more than 273 scholarships since the scholarship program began in 1964. Among the recipients are several well-known area musicians, and others who have gone on to national and international fame. Funds for the scholarships are raised by the club's annual Scholarship Benefit and Fashion Show, held each fall, and by additional contributions and memorial gifts. For more information, call 423-764-1710.