For seventeen years Beth Sowter and Mike Watts tirelessly ran Music Under the Southern Cross’ Celtic Summer School. When the school moved from northern Tasmania to the mainland, the Folk Federation of Tasmania (FFT) offered a scholarship to assist a musician to attend the Celtic Summer school. In 2015 Mike and Beth ran their last Summer school. The FFT has been very pleased to be able to support this valuable folk entity. Beth and Mike have worked very hard over the years, not just in this but at developing the talents of, and opportunities for, Tasmanian folk artists. Below is a list of the scholarship’s recipients and at the bottom of the page is a summary of achievements of some of the school’s students.
The scholarship recipients have been:
2007 Bridget Hickey
2008 Grace Dudley – piano
2009 Cathy Hutchinson and Lindsay Meldrum shared
2010 No one got the scholarship
2011 No one got the scholarship
2012 Ryan Garth
2013 Dylan Seckold-Bamforth
2014 Gareth Duddles
2015 Matthew Dames
Beth Sowter, coordinator of the school, who chose the scholarship recipient each year wrote “It is an excellent Scholarship as anyone coming to the School benefits so much that we have a string of students who have gone on to win the Declan Affley Award (several in fact), the Chris Wendt Award, the Folk Alliance Award several times, the Maitey Swallow Award, the Paddy O’Neill Award and other fine achievements around the country and now overseas.”
Cheers for now
Beth Sowter
Co-ordinator, Celtic Summer School.