Ragtime Musician Scholarships
After the 2019 festival, we initiated an ongoing scholarship under the Historic Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival that will be offered to current high school students, graduating high school seniors with an emphasis in Music and a commitment to study music in their higher education, along with first- and second-year college students. We will continue to award $500 - $1000 scholarships to these deserving young musicians in the coming years.
Starting with the 2025 Festival, we are now announcing the inception of the "Tom Brier Annual Scholarship" for youth ages 16 - 22 in the amount of $2500. Students should be studying music and/or planning on an emphasis of music in their higher education aspirations as well as loving Ragtime music.
If you would like to apply for either or both of the 2026 scholarships, please print the application(s) below and return by the deadline. The festival eagerly looks forward to receiving and reviewing your application.
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Starting with the 2025 Festival, we are now announcing the inception of the "Tom Brier Annual Scholarship" for youth ages 16 - 22 in the amount of $2500. Students should be studying music and/or planning on an emphasis of music in their higher education aspirations as well as loving Ragtime music.
If you would like to apply for either or both of the 2026 scholarships, please print the application(s) below and return by the deadline. The festival eagerly looks forward to receiving and reviewing your application.
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The 2025 Festival proudly awarded the $1000 Scholarship to a well-deserving Max Libertor. Max has been attending the Historic Sutter Creek Festival for 3+ years now and he loves the chance to perform and to mingle with the other fantastic musicians who come to play, He loves Tom Brier's music and is quite accomplished in playing Tom's music as well as bringing out his trumpet when the jam sessions start up during the after hours of the festival.
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The inaugural $2500 "Tom Brier Scholarship" was awarded to Isaiah Burton after an invigorating competition between 3 other youth performers on the Saturday of the festival. Each played a Tom Brier Rag and another Rag of their choosing, and then sight read a piece that was given to them by a judge. The event was overflowing with excitement and with overflow capacity. Congratulations to all the contestants for their talent and professionalism.
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Past Scholarship Recipients
Some recipients also took the time to write thoughtful thank-you letters to the Festival.
You may view these letters in the next section on this page.
You may view these letters in the next section on this page.
2024 – Rebeka McCarty & David Little
The 2024 Scholarships went to 2 deserving musicians. Each received a $1000 scholarship.
David Little is an 18-year-old from Sebastopol California. He caught the Ragtime bug just a few years ago and
he has been feverishly honed his piano skills since. He played at this year's Youth Concert and loved
being around so many like-minded youth performers as well as the seasoned performers
who attend the festival. He is off to start his college this year, and we expect to hear from him soon and hear
about how his ragtime passion has found its place in his college life!
Rebeka McCarty came all the way from Tulsa Oklahoma to be a part of the festival. She is also 18 years old and
beginning her College career. She plays Ragtime on the violin with her boyfriend Carter. They provided
the audiences here at the festival with wonderful ragtime renditions. She is an accomplished violinist and has
performed with numerous groups & Youth symphonies in her young career. We hope to see her back
again next year.
David Little is an 18-year-old from Sebastopol California. He caught the Ragtime bug just a few years ago and
he has been feverishly honed his piano skills since. He played at this year's Youth Concert and loved
being around so many like-minded youth performers as well as the seasoned performers
who attend the festival. He is off to start his college this year, and we expect to hear from him soon and hear
about how his ragtime passion has found its place in his college life!
Rebeka McCarty came all the way from Tulsa Oklahoma to be a part of the festival. She is also 18 years old and
beginning her College career. She plays Ragtime on the violin with her boyfriend Carter. They provided
the audiences here at the festival with wonderful ragtime renditions. She is an accomplished violinist and has
performed with numerous groups & Youth symphonies in her young career. We hope to see her back
again next year.
2023 – Carter Enos
We awarded this year's scholarship to Carter Enos. Carter is an eighteen-year-old from Tulsa Oklahoma.
He's been playing piano for over 11 years and was introduced to Ragtime through some videos
of Tom Brier's Ragtime performances. He showed up at the 2022 Sutter Creek festival and was
eager to be a part of 2023. We are proud to award to him this years $500 scholarship as he
plans to enter college this year.
He's been playing piano for over 11 years and was introduced to Ragtime through some videos
of Tom Brier's Ragtime performances. He showed up at the 2022 Sutter Creek festival and was
eager to be a part of 2023. We are proud to award to him this years $500 scholarship as he
plans to enter college this year.
2022 – William Francis Leonard
William Leonard is a very talented young man that made the trek from Oregon with his parents to Sutter Creek for the 2021 Festival and won the audiences over. He is the perfect candidate to receive this year's scholarship!
We have invited him back as a performer for the 2022 festival.
William Francis Leonard, 13, from Portland, Oregon started his piano journey at the age of 8. It was 2019 when he discovered ragtime, boogie-woogie, and stride and used his time to build a small catalog of pieces for performance. William is working with his piano teacher on composing several new rags and intends to produce a recording of his work in 2021 & 2022. William attends an option school focused on Arts & Communication where he has taken several leading roles for school plays. He is looking forward to returning to in-person learning where he can join his friends in creating the art and music that inspires him.
We have invited him back as a performer for the 2022 festival.
William Francis Leonard, 13, from Portland, Oregon started his piano journey at the age of 8. It was 2019 when he discovered ragtime, boogie-woogie, and stride and used his time to build a small catalog of pieces for performance. William is working with his piano teacher on composing several new rags and intends to produce a recording of his work in 2021 & 2022. William attends an option school focused on Arts & Communication where he has taken several leading roles for school plays. He is looking forward to returning to in-person learning where he can join his friends in creating the art and music that inspires him.
2019 – Anthony Sarginson
The festival was proud to give its first scholarship within our Ragtime Community to Anthony Sarginson who is pursuing a musical composition degree through Fresno State University. He recently graduated from High School and is embarking on his musical journey. Anthony is a regular at many ragtime festivals as well as performing here is Sutter Creek. You may read the letter from Anthony that he wrote expressing his thanks for receiving the scholarship and of his aspirations for the future. Anthony was the perfect person to receive our annual scholarship.
Recipient Thank-You Letters
2024 – Rebeka McCartyI am sincerely honored to have been selected as a recipient of the 2024 Ragtime Scholarship! Since I was young, music has always been a major part of my life. It is so engrained in me that I would likely be lost without it. I was six years old when I first picked up the violin. At that time, I knew that was the instrument I wanted to play and have been doing so ever since. I am currently a Violin Performance major at the University of Tulsa, Oklahoma. Earning this degree will provide the technical skills, musical knowledge, and performance opportunities needed for me to be successful as a professional musician. I would love to become a traveling solo violinist, but there are many exciting musical paths to explore. As an aspiring performer, I hope to share my love of music with others and inspire them to support, and perhaps pursue, the arts themselves. Thank you greatly for supporting my goals!! I look forward to attending the 2024 festival! 2023 – Carter EnosI am 18 years old from Tulsa, Oklahoma. I first found out about ragtime through videos on YouTube of Tom Brier. I loved his renditions of iconic video game scores, and slowly I started to enjoy ragtime in general. The main reason why I wanted to go to Sutter Creek in 2021 was so that I could see your ice cream emporium that Tom often played at. For that festival, I learned a ragtime rendition of Disney's "Be Our Guest" arranged by Kristen Mosca. It was a difficult piece considering it was my first proper ragtime piece I had ever learned, but I'm glad I got a chance to play it at the Chocolatte during one of their open nights. I have been playing the piano for 11 years, but I've never attempted ragtime before. It's a tricky style that even my piano teacher has a hard time playing! Since then, I've been learning more ragtime pieces. I even have a few of Tom Brier's compositions prepared that I want to play at Skunk Hollow this year. My goal is to write my first ever composition over the summer that I could play at the festival. I've never been trained in ragtime, so I'll have to do a lot of research over proper formatting and what constitutes as a rag and differentiating between different types of ragtime like stride or cakewalks. 2022 – William Francis LeonardHello Sutter Creek Ragtime Society, 2019 – Anthony SarginsonHello, I am incredibly thrilled to be awarded this scholarship! Ever since I was young, I have always dreamed of exceeding proficiency at the piano. When I was 10, I discovered a little piano game that I could plug into the television. I would always play it and feel proud of myself, wishing I could be one of the maestros on the screen. Up until my first Sutter Creek Ragtime Festival in 2015, I watched my dad fiddle around on a keyboard we have and I’ve always been intrigued by the sound that comes out of it. Gradually, I taught myself, first venturing into the world of Beethoven and several other highly accomplished composers. I reached a bump when I discovered the amazing pianist, Tom Brier. I could not stop listening to him on the internet and I was thinking that it would be crazy to ever meet him. Living in Clovis, I found out about the Historic Sutter Creek Festival which Tom coincidentally performs in and it is only about 3 hours away! After attending the festival, I can now realize that it was the thing that truly sparked my unconditional love for music and made it definite that I pursue music as a career. This extraordinary event was the first time I heard and played along with other performers and I felt at home by the wonderful hospitality of the ragtime players/enthusiasts. Through attending several year-round festivals, submitting forms to participate in piano competitions and getting official lessons, I knew that in order to get better, it is imperative that I work hard to transform my dreams into reality. I am currently a Senior at University High School on the campus of California State University, Fresno, which has been such a great experience. Being a college prep school, it can be tedious and dreadful, but I am able to work through everything with my amazing senior class who all spontaneously follow our code of character: Understanding, Honorable, and Studious. The school has offered me an extensive knowledge on music theory and at the same time has paved the way for college (taking Fresno State courses and receiving much college prep counseling) which is not too common for a high school to have. As I look into college for next year I hope to receive a musical composition degree. Pursuing music means the world to me so thank you so much for investing in my dreams! |