2011 Scholarship Winners
From left: Kostas Galanopoulos, Scotty Cockerham, Matt Heister.
Five Brevard high school graduates have won the 2011 Space Coast Jazz Society Scholarships of $1,500 to help them with their jazz studies in college. And a special grant of $1,500 was awarded to Matt Heister, a 29-year-old professional guitarist who will be studying jazz at the New School in New York.
The scholarships were dubbed the Heidi scholarships in honor of Brevard jazz icon Heidi Deleuil, owner of Heidi’s Jazz Club in Cocoa Beach. They were primarily funded by a grant of $6,000 from the Kirsner Family Foundation to honor Heidi.
The five graduates are:
Cody Austin of Viera High School, who plays the drums. He plans to attend Brevard Community College and transfer to Southern Florida University or Florida Atlantic University for commercial music studies.
Jillian Gerding of Satellite High School, who plays the baritone sax, tuba, piano, bass trombone and alto sax. She will study marketing and advertising with a minor in music performance.
Dexter Willborn of West Shore High School, who plays the saxophone, drums and bass and is also a vocalist. He is the son of Dan Wilborn, a well-known alto sax player. He plans to attend the University of Central Florida, where he will study jazz theory and jazz improvisation.
Kostas Galanopoulos of Cocoa Beach High School, who plays percussion, bass, guitar, marimba and steel drums. He will be studying at the New School for Jazz and Contemporary Music in New York City.
Scotty Cockerham of Space Coast High, who plays all the saxophones. He also plays flute, guitar, piano, steel drums, bass, banjo, clarinet, penny whistle and drums. He will attend Santa Fe College in Gainesville and transfer to University of Florida.
The grant to Matt Heister was special because it was the first time the SCJS has helped an older professional musician with advanced schooling. Heister was graduated from Bayside High School in 2001. He plays guitar and bass and has studied privately with Larry Coryell, Tom Hueston and the late Billy Van Riper. In addition to solo appearances at many venues, he has also led jazz jams at such popular places as Vintage 56 and the Getaway Martini bar. He currently hosts the Getaway jazz jam twice a month. Heister is WFIT’s director of jazz and he hosts a jazz show from 7 to 10 PM on Wednesdays on WFIT. He plans to leave in August for the New School in New York City.
The scholarships were presented to the winners at the May 15 SCJS concert, which was headlined by the Mark Hubrouck Trio with Hubrouck on piano, Ron Pirtle on bass and Randy Crouch on drums. The six winners sat in with the trio throughout the afternoon and the crowd frequently gave them standing ovations.
A typical reaction came from member Donna Lee Bowers: "The Jazz Society concert last Sunday was the most incredible music. I wish the music had been recorded as it was beyond the beyond with the young artists adding to the mix. Bravo. It was icing on the cake when Heidi, of jazz club fame, won the 50-50 drawing and returned it to the scholarship program."