The Hagood Hardy Protégé Honour Award was established in 1998 by SOCAN and Martha Hardy in memory of her husband who died in 1997. Hagood Hardy, O.C., is best known to most Canadians as the composer of such musical favorites as The Homecoming and the Anne Of Green Gables theme. In a lifetime devoted to music, Mr. Hardy composed many other pieces for film and television as well as touring and performing with some of the icons of jazz. Along with his music, Mr. Hardy was a dedicated member of several medical charities and boards of directors of business and artistic groups including the Shaw Festival. The award which honors him goes to a student who has demonstrated, through dedication and progress, that she or he is an excellent role model and an inspiration for other young musicians.

Previous Winners of the Hagood Hardy Protégé Honour Award

2008

Jack Hang, 12 year old pianist, currently studying at the Dixon Hall Music School. Jack has won a gold star at the Glenburnie Music Competition and the Bluma Appel award.

Frank Jiang, 13 years old, studies drums, piano and theory at the Dixon Hall Music School. He is by far the best drummer the Music School has had. His confidence and assured playing is remarkable, as his commitment to his lessons.

2007

Cindy Hong, 15 year old pianist, currently studying at the Dixon Hall Music School. She received the Silver Medal from the Royal Conservatory for exceptional marks in her Grade IV exams and a scholarship from the Peel Music Festival for her exceptional technique.

Edward Yang, 8 years old, has been studying piano at the University Settlement House for four years. Edward won “Best of Class” in this year’s Kiwanis Music Festival. He is also a regular performer in the University Settlement House’s student concerts.

2006

Linda (Yi Chan) Sun, 17 year old pianist, currently studying at the University Settlement House Music and Arts School. Her piano teacher describes Linda as a person of character…perseverance and maturity for one so young. Her career plan is to become a piano teacher.

2005

Eric Tan, 12 year old pianist, who also composes music, has completed 8 levels of the Royal Conservatory programme with First Class Honors on every exam. He was awarded first place in the Concert Class at the Davenport Music Festival and three first places in the All TV Festival of Music.

2004

Peter Nguyen, 16 year old pianist, currently enrolled in grade 9 RCM piano. Peter has consistently attained marks over 90% in his RCM exams and has placed first several times at the Kiwanis Festival.

2002

Paul Nguyen-Tran, 12 years old, is currently a student at the Regent Park School of Music. This multi-talented violinist has studied music both piano and violin. Having scoring 94% on his recent theory exam, Paul is currently completing his grade 7 Royal Conservatory program. Teachers consider him to be extraordinarily gifted and believe he can have music career.

2001

Tuan Nguyen, 14 years old, pianist, last year won the Kiwanis Music Festival Medal for grade 8.

2000

Wendy Ma, violinist, a full-time honor student at North Toronto Collegiate where she currently plays in the school orchestra. She has been accepted as an exchange student in France for her final year of high school.

1999

Ivy Luguya, pianist, now attending the University of Toronto, completed the top courses at the Royal Conservatory including harmony.

1998

Thompson Egbo-Egbo talented pianist currently planning a career in music through the Humber College Jazz program.

The Minstrel Foundation awards individual scholarships to inner city youth to study music and arts at the advanced level. To apply for a scholarship complete the Scholarship & Awards Application and forward it and all required information to the Minstrel Foundation.

Previous Winners of the Minstrel Foundation Scholarships and Awards

2008

Jack Hang, Becky Song and Tonya Tong were awarded Minstrel Foundation scholarships to study at the Royal Conservatory of Music.

In addition, the Minstrel Foundation is supporting Andres Tucci Clarke in his second year studies for his Master of Music degree at the University of Ottawa.

2007

The Minstrel Foundation is please to announce the recipient of its first webpage scholarship. Jillianne Roach, age 15, a French Horn student from the Bishop Allan Academy. Along with her musical achievements, Jillianne is an honors student and a valued member of the Cadet Corps.

The Minstrel Foundation has been associated with Andres Tucci Clarke since his studies at the Dixon Hall Music School. We are pleased to assist Andres in his first term of a Master’s degree in Music at the University of Ottawa.

Shilin He, Jack Hang and Becki Song were awarded scholarships for advanced summer studies at the Royal Conservatory of Music and master classes to improved reading skills and technique.

2005

The Minstrel Foundation has approved scholarship assistance to three post-secondary students studying music. Andres Tucci Clarke who is completing a degree in performance music at Wilfrid Laurier University. Thompson Egbo-Egbo, a student in his final year in the Jazz music programme at Humber College who plans a career in performance. Matthew Brown who recently graduated from the Randolph Academy for Performing Arts in musical theatre. Matthew had a part this summer in “Five Guys Named Moe”

The Foundation awarded three advanced study scholarships to Jack Hang, Eric Tan and ShinLin He to study at the Royal Conservatory of Music under the guidance of Gloria Saarinen. All three students have successfully competed and performed in festivals and concerts as well as demonstrated the focus, desire and eager determination to get as much as possible from their lessons no matter how hard they are pushed.

2004

Matthew Brown, vocalist and a recent graduate of the Randolph Academy of Musical Theatre has been selected for a major role in the new CTV sitcom “Instant Star”.

Tomas Kwong a talented young pianist and the winner of the Ann Tindal Award for outstanding piano performances. Tomas has studied for the last five years at the Dixon Hall School of Music and is their choir accompanist.

Eric Tan at 12 years old is one of the most gifted pianists that has come from the Dixon Hall School of Music. He has a phenomenal ability to learn difficult and challenging pieces of music in a short time and to play them with a natural ease and understanding.

ShiLin He is a very exceptional young pianist who takes great care in learning her repertoire and is capable of beautiful performances.

Andres Tucci-Clarke, cellist, studying at Wilfred Laurier University and Thompson Egbo-Egbo, jazz pianist studying at Humber College both received full tuition scholarships for the 2004 – 2005 school year.

2003

Thompson Egbo-Egbo has been studying jazz at Humber College and has been described as one of the upcoming virtuoso on the Toronto jazz scene.

Andres Tucci-Clarke is currently enrolled in his first year music program at the University of Waterloo studying the Cello.

The Cassels Brock Music Award was established in 2002 to be presented to one exceptional underprivileged student(s) who has demonstrated through his or her dedication a commitment to his or her music studies.

Previous Winners of the Cassels Brock Music Award

2008

Dhanis Rajasejar from the Dixon Hall Music School has demonstrated a remarkable flair with the snare drums and exceptional creativity and understanding of musical computer concepts.

2007

Na’ama McLaughlin Rock, 11 year old, pianist, currently studying at the University Settlement House for 2 1/2 years is an exceptional performer who already “digs deep into a piece to discover its essence” according to her teachers. She also transposes music by sight, a real feat for one so young.

2006

David Wu, 15 year old pianist currently enrolled at the Regent Park School of Music. David has completed 8 grades of piano and 4 grades of theory in the past four years with first class honours in all exams. Davis plans to be a piano teacher and hopes to teach at Regent Park one day.

Cecilia Nguyen, 12 years old pianist, currently enrolled in Grade 5 piano and Grade 2 Theory is described by her teachers as a hardworking, talented and a promising performer. Her second instrument is Cello.

2005

Irene Shao, 16 year old pianist, currently studying at the University Settlement Music and Arts School. She is working towards her ARCT in piano performance having successfully completed her grade 10 piano and Grade 5 Music History and Analysis. Irene is a committed performer whose playing has the power to communicate depth, emotion and her love of music.

2004

Mei Ye, 12 years old, pianist, has just completed her grade 6 piano at the Royal Conservatory of Music in addition to studying the viola. Her talent and dedication to her music studies has been recognized with this award.

The award was established to groom an individual student towards a future career in music. The award is to provide financial assistance continuously until the particular recipient has achieved his/her goal in their field of music. The recipient should be over 10 years of age and achieved high standings in at least half of the required examinations towards his/her field of music.

Previous Winners of the Fan Po Chu Music Award

2008

Eric Tan, 15 year old pianist, from Dixon Hall Music School who has been studying at the Royal Conservatory of Music for the last four years. A past recipient of the Hagood Hardy Protégé Award. In 2007, Eric won first prize at the ORMTA Young Artist Provincial Final Competition and was awarded a six city solo concert tour. In 2008, he has won the overall Outstanding Performance Scholarship in the Central Toronto branch of the ORMTA Spring Senior Recital.

The Minstrel Foundation is proud to have been chosen to administer the Lister Sinclair Music Award, named for the well-known playwright, author, and broadcaster who died on October 16, 2006. Sinclair, best known recently as the host of the radio series “Ideas” on the CBC had a long and distinguished career in the arts and was one of the strongest supporters of arts education not only in Canada but in his native Britain. On his passing, Eric Tan, a student at the Midsummer Music commented "I feel very sad to hear that Lister passed away. I still remember the inspiring speeches he used to give at Midsummer Music camp. He was so kind, humorous and brilliant. He taught us a lot about nature and music."

Previous Winners of the Lister Sinclair Music Award

2008

Alex Yang, 7 year old pianist, from University Settlement Music School. This dedicated young man is has progressed to the grade 6 Royal Conservatory Music level.

2007

Andrew Wong, 15 year old pianist, grade 10 student in French Immersion at Nelson High School in Toronto. Andrew has already distinguished himself in performances as a soloist and an accompanist in provincial and local competitions. His work has been noted by many professional musicians for his exceptional maturity and technique. Besides his musical accomplishments, had the highest grade point average in grade 9 and won a coveted mathematics award for excellence.