Percussionist Maria Marmarou just completed her freshman year at Temple University and the Boyer School of Music and Dance. A graduate of Kutztown High School, she has participated in several all-state and nationally recognized music festivals. She has performed with the South Philly Big Band, along with A-List musicians Marcell Bellinger, Mike Boone and Tim Warfield.

We are happy to announce Maria as our 2019 Billy Strayhorn Jazz Education Scholarship Award recipient for Temple and the Boyer School of Music and Dance Jazz Studies Program. She is pictured with one of her music mentors, Dr. Willis Rapp, recognized as one of the leaders over many years in percussion education and the principal conductor for the Reading Pops Orchestra.

Trumpeter Jamal Kemp is a sophomore at the Eastman School of Music. He plays in the trumpet section of the Eastman Jazz Ensemble. Jamal is working towards being a professional musician in New York City when he finishes school. Jamal was selected by several professors in the jazz studies department to be the 2019 Billy Strayhorn Jazz Education Scholarship Award recipient for Eastman.

We congratulate Jamal on this well deserved award and know he will make his dream of becoming a professional musician come true!