Two aspiring young Manx musicians could benefit from a new annual bursary of up to £1,000 each to fund a place at music summer school of their choice in the UK.
The bursary has been established thanks to the generous and thoughtful bequest of Roz Kelly, a talented and accomplished Manx musician who sang with the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic Choir and the Liverpool Chamber Choir.
Roz first started to learn the violin while a pupil at Braddan Primary School and also enjoyed singing and playing the piano, often participating in ‘The Guild’.
Roz joined the Manx Youth Orchestra in 1981 and took part in various tours. She continued to enjoy music making as a student at Liverpool University where she studied physics and gained a PhD.
After seeing what fun the brass section of the orchestra had, Roz also took up the French horn.
Later, when Roz was too ill to play or sing, music continued to give her great pleasure and she enjoyed going to the Royal Liverpool Philharmonic when she could.
Roz was keen that others would have the opportunity to participate in music as she had and wanted to be able to further that through her bequest.
Maggie Richardson, Head of Music Service, said:
'I was very humbled to talk to Roz shortly before she died. She wanted to share with me some of the very fond musical memories she had, especially of playing with the Manx Youth Orchestra. She took part in some tours and her favourite experience was sleeping under the stars during their tour to Israel.
'Roz was so passionate about giving back and her bequest will ensure many years of young people benefiting from her generosity.'
Applications are open to Isle of Man residents aged 16 – 21 who are able to demonstrate their musical promise and enthusiasm through a written application and provide a written recommendation from a teacher, musical mentor or similar.
The funding can only be used towards the cost of travel and participation at the music summer school of their choice. It can be for any genre or style of music, from classical music to rock and pop or musical theatre to instrument making.
For more information, interested parties can contact the Department of Education, Sport and Culture’s Music Service on +44 1624 686558 or musicserviceenquiries@sch.im.
Applications should be sent to:
Chairman of the Friends of the Manx Youth Orchestra,
c/o The Music Centre,
St Ninian’s Lower School,
Heywood Avenue,
Onchan,
IM3 3AR.
The deadline is 4pm on Tuesday 17 April 2018.
