March 2008 Recipients
The Mazda Foundation is helping young performers pursue their dreams through its ongoing support of the Performing Arts Competition Association of New Zealand (PACANZ).
The $24,000 grant will provide 12 tuition scholarships for the winners and finalists of the National Young Performer Awards. This is the third consecutive year the Mazda Foundation has funded PACANZ, and it brings the total number of tuition scholarships it has funded to 36.
The National Young Performer Awards recognise the crème-de-la-crème of New Zealand’s young performing artists. They offer competitors the opportunity to measure themselves against their peers at a national level and vie for financial assistance to further their chosen art. The disciplines of Ballet, Tap, Pianoforte, Vocal, Modern Dance, Highland and National Dance, Orchestral Instrument and Speech and Drama are alternated each year.
Annette Johnstone, PACANZ Executive Officer, said the Mazda Foundation tuition scholarships provide the financial support New Zealand’s young performers need to further their careers.
Violinist Amalia Hall, who won the Instrumental category in last year’s awards, used her Mazda Foundation tuition scholarship to attend auditions for six music schools in the US in February. She has since been accepted into the most prestigious, the Curtis Institute, and will commence her studies there this year along with some of the world’s most talented musicians.
The 2008 National Young Performer of the Year Awards will be held in October in Tauranga and will consist of Ballet, Tap, Pianoforte and Vocal. The winner and two finalists in each category will each receive a Mazda Foundation tuition scholarship.
