New York, N.Y.- May 15, 2018- The 2018 recipients of the Abe Olman Scholarships for Excellence in Songwriting, The Holly Prize, The NYU Steinhardt Songwriting Scholar Award and the Curtis Mayfield Scholarship Award have been selected, SHOF President & CEO Linda Moran announced today.
This year's Abe Olman Scholarship recipients are:
- Emily Bear (ASCAP)
- Leyla Blue (BMI)
- Randy Class (BMI)
- Hannah Dasher (ASCAP)
- E.B. Sollis II (SESAC)
Recipients of the Abe Olman Scholarship for Excellence in Songwriting are selected by ASCAP, BMI and SESAC. Abe Olman, for whom this program is named, was both a major figure in the music publishing community and a songwriter himself, in addition to being one of the founders of the Songwriters Hall of Fame. The Abe Olman Scholarships, given out annually since 1990, have been made possible by his family in the interest of encouraging and supporting the careers of young songwriters. In 2002, one such recipient was John Stephens, whose scholarship money allowed him to finish his first album which went on to win a GRAMMY. We all know him today as John Legend, who in 2007 received the Hal David Starlight Award.
The Holly Prize is an award made possible by Songmasters and administered and juried by the SHOF as a tribute to the legacy of SHOF inductee Buddy Holly. The Holly Prize will annually recognize and support a new "all-in-one songwriter "- an exceptionally talented and inspired young musician/singer/songwriter whose work exhibits the qualities of Holly's music: true, great and original. The 2018 Holly Prize winner is the duo Sylvan Esso (Amelia Meath and Nick Sanborn).
The NYU Steinhardt Songwriting Scholar Award is presented to a music composition student whose work holds great potential for success in the field, and embodies the art, craft, individuality and qualities of communication of the best songwriting. Oskari Nurminen is the 2018 NYU Steinhardt Songwriting Scholar awardee.
The Curtis Mayfield Scholarship Award recognizes a promising singer/songwriter whose work reflects the inspiration, spirit and soul of Curtis Mayfield. Breland "The Pen Point Guard" will be the recipient for 2018.
More information regarding all of the 2018 recipients can be found in the Scholarship section of the songhall.org website.