TWO YOUNG WS MUSICIANS WIN SCHOLARSHIP AWARDS

Auditions for the Joyce Walsh Junior Awards for the Handicapped were held in March and two young musicians with Williams syndrome were again named region winners. Each winner received $300.

Alec Sweazy, 14, of Minnetonka, Minnesota was named the Central Region winner and John Libera, 17, of Granby, Massachusetts, was named the Northeastern Region winner. Both were also 1998 region winners. Alec, who has been studying piano privately for about 4 ½ years, played Sonatina in A Minor by Georg Anton Benda and Important Event by Robert Schumann. John, who has been studying clarinet privately for about 4 ½ years, performed Serenata by Hugh Stuart and Sonata in C Minor, the Adagio by Georg Philipp Telemann.

Aaron Antolewicz of Atkinson, New Hampshire auditioned on drums and was named the Northeastern Region winner in 1997, being the first musician with Williams syndrome to receive this distinction.

The Joyce Walsh Junior Awards for the Handicapped is a Junior Division project of the National Federation of Music Clubs. All are urged to encourage musically talented handicapped juniors to apply for the annual awards.

Requirements include:
1) Applicant must have reached 12th birthday, but not 19th, by March 1 of the year of audition.
2) Applicant must send a completed application blank to the chairman postmarked by February 1 of the year of application.
3) Applicant must be a member of the National Federation of Music Clubs.
4) Applicant must include a letter of recommendation from teacher, tutor, or clergyman.
5) Applicant must include a letter from a medical doctor stating the nature and duration of handicap.
6) Applicant shall send a cassette tape, not to exceed 10 minutes, to the chairman postmarked by March 1 of the year of application. There are no repertoire requirements, but entrants are encouraged to perform two selections from contrasting style periods, if possible.
7) Applicant must be a citizen of the United States.

To enter your WS musician, please contact Mrs. B. E. Walsh, 905 Dial Drive, Kennett, Missouri 63857-2015 for an official application blank.