Application deadline extended to May 15th!
The Cleveland Blues Society Scholarship and Education Fund was created to promote awareness and appreciation of the blues, while providing broader educational opportunities for recipients. For the year 2023, three $1,000 scholarships will be awarded to applicants. Application deadline is April 15th.
The Cleveland Blues Society (CBS) Scholarship and Educational Fund can only be used for scholarship and educational opportunities. These policies have been added to our Bylaws that ensure scholarships be awarded annually by CBS and only used for the scholarships awarded. The scholarship program is funded primarily through the proceeds of the CBS Annual Blues Cruise, membership, merchandise sales, donations, and other fundraising events. CBS is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. You may also make tax-deductible contributions directly to the CBS Scholarship Fund. Details to apply are listed below.
Meet the Class of 2022
Paul Taylor
Despite having been influenced by the blues at an early age, Paul did not seriously start playing himself until he picked up a guitar during the onset of the Covid pandemic. Paul spent hours during the quarantine grinding on chords and scales and learned to play along with some of his favorite tunes.
The music came to him more naturally than any sport he had played or subject he had studied in school. It was something he felt as much as it was something he listened to. Paul has taken lessons from one of the area’s preeminent blues/rock guitarists, Butch Armstrong, and now with the challenges of his senior year at University School in the rearview, he looks forward to branching out from his home and collaborating more regularly with Butch and other blues musicians. Paul will be attending the Krannert School of Management at Purdue University in the fall and intends to couple his interest in business with his passion for music.
Cece Bettinger
Cece Bettinger is a graduate of Solon High School in Solon, Ohio and currently attends Heidelberg University in Tiffin, Ohio as an Early Childhood Education major with a Music minor. At Solon High School she was a four year member of the award winning Music in Motion show choir performing and competing throughout the state as well as Chicago and West Virginia. In Music in Motion, Cece was a featured soloist, section leader, and “most improved” award recipient. She also sang lead in a barbershop quartet, “Harmaniacs” and soprano in Madrigals, Solon’s renowned jazz choir. Cece has a powerful, soulful voice that is suited for all styles of music and connects with audiences of all ages and backgrounds. She has been involved in musical theater for most of her life and performed lead roles in The Secret Garden, The Scarlet Letter, and Beauty and the Beast. She was a featured performer at Playhouse Square’s Dazzle Awards in 2018. At Heidelberg, she studies voice with Deborah Norin- Kuehn and just completed a tour with the Heidelberg University Concert Choir performing throughout Ohio and Chicago. Cece plans to continue to inspire others with her music and Amazing voice!
Ethan Banning
Ethan Banning is a graduating Senior from Strongsville High School. When it was time to choose an instrument to play in 5th grade, he followed in his father’s and grandfather’s footsteps and played the trumpet. Ethan has played in his high school’s bands and symphony orchestra which both received perfect scores at state-level competitions, as well as helped run student-run music programs at his school whether it was gathering people to play with his high school’s show choir, or putting together a group to play some popular videogame music. During the marching season, Ethan gave the brand new students enough confidence to bring out their harmonies and share his passion. Recently gaining an interest in music composition Ethan has written several original pieces for his brass section. Ethan has thrived in his musical environment and his love for music continues to crescendo as he grows older attending Akron University in Akron, Ohio with a major in computer science and a minor in music composition, and the goal of performing on stage with professionals.
Eligibility requirements:
Applicants must live in Northeastern Ohio and either a current high school senior who has been accepted into a college and will enroll in 2023 / 2024 or students currently attending a college, but have not reached their final year. A BLUES related class must be included in the applicant’s curricula (may include, but not limited to building and repair of instruments,composition, lessons, music therapy, music history and literature, music performance, music theory, music theater, recording management,entertainment law, sound engineering).
Guidelines
To apply for the Cleveland Blues Society Scholarship, click on the application form below and answer the following question in the form of a 500-word essay:
“What does blues music mean to you and what role will you play in bringing music to people?”
Submission deadline for the application is April 15th. The Cleveland Blues Society Scholarship Review Committee will review all applications and contact winners. If a winner does not respond by May 1st of that scholarship year then another applicant will be chosen.
How Recipients are Chosen
The Cleveland Blues Society Scholarship Review Committee will contact winners and confirm eligibility. Winners will submit a photo and short autobiography to the Committee. The Scholarship presentation will be held at a CBS event by August of scholarship year. Checks will be issued to the college/university that winners are attending.
About The Cleveland Blues Society
The Cleveland Blues Society is non-profit group dedicated to the preservation of Blues music in the Greater Cleveland area and Northeast Ohio. Through monthly Blues Jams, the annual Blues Cruise, member picnics, community support, Hall of Fame Awards and the newly introduced Scholarship and Education Fund, the Blues Society endeavors promote awareness and appreciation for the Blues. The Scholarship and Educational Fund can only be used for scholarship and educational opportunities. The scholarship program is funded primarily through the proceeds of the CBS Annual Blues Cruise, membership, merchandise sales, donations, and other fundraising events. CBS is a non-profit 501(c)(3) organization. You may also make tax-deductible contributions directly to the CBS Scholarship Fund.
Contacts
William Koteles – President, Cleveland Blues Society
scholarship@clevelandblues.org
For promotion and marketing opportunities with The Cleveland Blues Society, contact:
Susanne Mayer, Board Member at Large at sm@clevelandblues.org