Rhythm & Blues Foundation Creates Legacy Award Scholarship

The Rhythm & Blues Foundation has created a $5,000 scholarship to be awarded for the further education and career development of a young R&B musician, Kayte Connelly, executive director of the R&B Foundation announced. The annual award was created to recognize the influence and dedication of the Legacy Award Artist to the genre of Rhythm & Blues music and to perpetuate that contribution through the education of the next generation.

"The Legacy Award Scholarship is the Foundation's way of supporting the future of Rhythm & Blues by recognizing the Legacy Artist's historic contribution of the genre. The development and support of upcoming artists is the key to preserving and honoring the past," Connelly explained.

In order to qualify for the funds, an individual must be between the ages of 15 to 18 years old, live in the Pennsylvania, New Jersey or Delaware areas and may be either a vocalist or an instrumentalist. In addition, the student must have at least two years of prior music lessons or demonstrated experience in the music discipline. The deadline for all applications is June 1, 2006.

A partial list of application requirements include a video tape performance, (not to exceed three minutes in length), a 500 word essay and two references. A complete list of application requirements along with an application form can be found at www.rhythmblues.org/ (COMPLETE ADDRESS AND INFORMATION).

The 2006 Legacy Award Artist, Otis Redding, was considered one of the most influential soul singers of the 1960s. His death at the age of 26 was tragic not just because he seemed on the verge of breaking through to a wide pop audience and he did just that with his posthumous number one single, "[Sittin' On] The Dock of the Bay." Redding died in a plane crash in Wisconsin on December 10, 1967, in an accident that also took the lives of four members from his backup band, the Bar-Kays. A few other singles became posthumous hits, and a good amount of other unreleased material was issued in the wake of his death.

The Legacy Award Scholarship winner will be invited to attend the 2006 Pioneer Awards scheduled for June 29, 2006 in the Bellevue Ballroom at the Park Hyatt Bellevue in Philadelphia, PA, the new home of the Rhythm & Blues Foundation.

The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent non-profit service organization with a worldwide reputation for meeting the needs of former rhythm and blues artists. Officially established in 1988, the mission of the R&B Foundation is to promote recognition, financial support, educational outreach and historic and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music through various grants and programs in support of R&B and Motown artists from the 1940s through the 1970s. The Foundation was housed in Washington, DC and New York City, until the recent move to Philadelphia in April of 2005. The offices are currently located at 100 South Broad Street, Suite 620, Philadelphia, PA 19110.

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