BMI Foundation Announces over $30,000 in Awards to High School Music Students Across the United States
L-R top: Chris Trousdale Dream Awards winners Amber Puckering, Jesse Schopflocher, Alexander Stokes, Lilyana Meza, and Chayce Graves;
L-R bottom: Chris Trousdale Dream Awards winners Margaryta Kuzina, Chauncey Barrett, and Sadie Pine; Curtis Mayfield Scholarship awardees Angel Vicente Alday and Robert Ralston
New York, NY - July 17, 2024 - BMI Foundation, Inc. recently announced the recipients of the 2024 Curtis Mayfield Scholarships and 2024 Chris Trousdale Dream Awards. These programs support young high school musicians in continuing their studies of music, with awards totaling over $30,000.
The BMI Foundation grants the Curtis Mayfield Scholarship in partnership with the Curtis Mayfield Foundation. The award includes two $3,000 scholarships annually granted to a graduating senior at the public performing arts high schools Chicago High School for the Arts (ChiArts) and Dekalb School of the Arts in Atlanta. This year’s Curtis Mayfield Scholarship winners are Robert Ralston of DeKalb School of the Arts and Angel Vicente Alday of ChiArts. Ralston will continue his studies of flute performance at the Schwob School of Music at Columbus State University, while Alday will study trombone and composition at Chicago College of Performing Arts - Roosevelt University in the fall.
This scholarship program honors the memory of the iconic Chicago-born songwriter, musician and producer whose prolific career and legacy includes such hits as “Superfly,” “People Get Ready,” “Move On Up,” “Do Do Wap is Strong in Here,” and “It’s All Right”, as well as the numerous soundtracks he created for film. Many of Mayfield’s songs, including “Keep On Pushing” and “We’re a Winner,” became cornerstones of the Civil Rights Movement, often sung as freedom songs during marches, freedom rides and protests. Mayfield first gained recognition and acclaim as a member of The Impressions in the 1960’s before going on to have a successful decades-long solo career.
The Chris Trousdale Dream Awards honor the memory of performer and composer Chris Trousdale by commemorating his time in New York, California, and his home state of Michigan with $5,000 prizes for students of performing arts schools in each state, and $2,000 awards for an additional five students nationwide based on essays about their musical experiences.
A member of The Broadway Kids and the boy band Dream Street, Trousdale began his professional career at the age of eight, touring with Les Misérables alongside Ashley Tisdale. He went on to star in numerous Broadway shows and a prolific solo career. The awards are generously underwritten by Craig Robinson, Executive Vice President and Chief Diversity Officer at NBC Universal, and member of the BMI Board of Directors.
This year’s Chris Trousdale Dream Award winners included Chauncey Jordan Barrett of Detroit School of Arts, Margaryta Kuzina of Los Angeles County High School for the Arts, and Amber Puckering of Repertory Company High School for Theatre Arts, with essay awards presented to Chayce Graves (Florida), Lilyana Meza (Wisconsin), Sadie Pine (New York), Jesse Schopflocher (New York), and Alexander Stokes (Virginia).
About the BMI Foundation
The BMI Foundation is a nonprofit organization founded in 1985 to encourage the creation, performance, and study of American music. The Foundation’s programs include competitive scholarships for songwriters and composers, operating grants for nonprofit arts presenters, and support for innovative music education initiatives in schools and communities across the country. For more information about the work of the Foundation, please visit our website at www.bmifoundation.org. For exclusive news and content, follow @bmifoundation on Instagram, and like BMI Foundation on Facebook.
