2019 Scholarship Awards Announced

(top row l to r) Pance Pony, Ro Ransom, Alexandra James, and Adia Victoria
(bottom row) Ori Dulitzki, Madison Cunningham, Maude Latour, Zuberi "@uD!o" Mackson and MILCK


New York, N.Y.- May 22, 2019- The 2019 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:

Madison Cunningham (ASCAP) 
Ori Dulitzki (BMI)
Maude Latour (BMI)
MILCK (ASCAP)
Ro Ransom (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 2019 Holly Prize winner is Adia Victoria.

The NYU Steinhardt Songwriting Scholar Award is presented to music composition students whose work holds great potential for success in the field, and embodies the art, craft, individuality and qualities of communication of the best songwriting. Alexandra James and Pance Pony are the 2019 NYU Steinhardt Songwriting Scholar awardees.

The Curtis Mayfield Scholarship Award recognizes a promising singer/songwriter whose work reflects the inspiration, spirit and soul of SHOF inductee Curtis MayfieldZuberi "@uD!o" Mackson will be the recipient for 2019.

More information regarding all of the 2019 recipients can be found in the Education section of the songhall.org website.