Jeanette M. Russell Jazz Scholarship Competition
FORT LAUDERDALE, FL – On Saturday, April 21, the Gold Coast Jazz Society will present the 16th annual Jeanette M. Russell Jazz Scholarship Competition. The competition will be held at ArtServe, 1350 E. Sunrise Blvd. in Fort Lauderdale and occurs from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. The event is free and open to the public to attend.
Students will compete for scholarship support from the Jeanette M. Russel Scholarship Program and the Robert Friedman Foundation. The students will participate in a live musical audition for scholarship awards to attend 2018 summer music camps or tuition assistance to attend colleges or universities in the fall of 2018. Eighteen students were selected this year who are from area high schools and have met the financial criteria and other scholarship qualifications.
Since 2003, the Gold Coast Jazz Society has awarded over $475,000 in scholarships to students from middle schools, high schools, colleges and universities pursing studies in jazz. “Thanks to the foresight of Jeanette Russell and Robert Friedman, we are able to help these worthy students fulfill their dreams to study jazz. We’re very grateful for the resources that they have provided for our scholarship program,” said Pam Dearden, Executive Director of the Gold Coast Jazz Society. “It’s so rewarding to know that we are able to assist these talented students.”
Jeanette Russell, affectionately known as “Lady Jazz,” was an avid jazz fan and frequently assisted jazz musicians in need. She achieved success in New York City as a fashion designer and consultant.
Robert Friedman, nationally known as a composer of “big band” jazz music, achieved the pinnacle of success in business and industry as the president and chief executive officer of The National Machinery Company in Tiffin, Ohio. Their love of jazz lives on through this scholarship program.
The Gold Coast Jazz Society is a not-for-profit organization that is dedicated to perpetuating and advance jazz through performances, education and outreach activities.
For more information or to donate to the scholarship pro-gram, call (954) 524-0805 or go to www.goldcoastjazz.org.
