Musicale organizers hope to hit high notes for music scholarships

The Grays Harbor Music Teachers Association will present Musicale 2018 this weekend.

The annual fundraiser for music scholarships will begin at 7 p.m. Saturday at First Presbyterian Church of Aberdeen.

Performers will include pianist Micah Hollen, a 2017 scholarship recipient who’s majoring in engineering and minoring in music at Western Washington University. He will play selections from Bach, Beethoven and Rachmaninoff.

Also taking the stage will be acoustic guitarist Daniel Walker, who was born in New Zealand but now lives in Olympia; violinists Debra Akerlund and Karen Meikle, accompanied on piano by Merry Jo Zimmer; and the Dukes of Swing, directed by David McCrary.

Christine Hill, who operates Christine Hill Music Studios in Montesano, has been in charge of the event off and on for a couple of decades.

“I chaired for several years, took a little break and then took it back on again around 2010,” she said.

But the event’s history goes back much further.

“It was adapted from a former program called Pro Musica. When I started at Grays Harbor College in 1977, I received a Pro Musica scholarship,” said Hill. “In 1978 or ’79 that program disbanded, and the association took it over and turned it into the annual event called Musicale.”

She said it started out very small: It was initially staged in GHC’s music rehearsal building and grew from there.

In the mid-1990s, the event moved to the church at the corner of Broadway and Fourth streets.

“We give them an offering for the heat and light,” said Hill. “They’re very accommodating and wonderful, and have been for so many years.”

GHMTA members start planning the annual concert many months in advance.

“Around summertime, we start throwing names around,” said Hill. “We always use local performers, (and) we always like to include at least one scholarship recipient from the previous year.”

Admission is free. Donations will be requested during intermission to fund scholarships for music students from Grays Harbor and Pacific counties who are majoring or minoring in music at any college.

“The more we raise, the more we can give out,” said Hill. “We try to give out everything we bring in each year.”

Over the past 20 years, GHMTA has disbursed about $46,300 through 60 scholarships as a result of Musicale, according to association member Ellen Pickell. Students have used the funds to attend schools all over the country, from Washington’s state universities to California State University at Fullerton to Ithaca College in New York. Their courses of study have included voice, various instruments, music education, music therapy and musical theater.

Kari Hasbrouck, who received a scholarship 12 years ago, is now a voice and piano instructor at GHC and director of the Grays Harbor Civic Choir.

“In 2006 I decided to go back to school to get a Master of Education in order to be able to obtain a Washington state teaching certificate. I wanted to be able to teach music in the public school system,” said Hasbrouck. “The scholarship given to me by the GHMTA helped me to get started in my master’s program through Grand Canyon University.”

Other notable scholarship recipients include Alex Eddy (2004), a GHC instructor and a member of the Driftwood Players; Nick Barene (2011), the instrumental instructor at Miller Junior High in Aberdeen; Jayce Ogren (1998), who became a symphony conductor; and Seth Hollen (2013), who’s working with the Missoula Children’s Theatre in Montana.

The field is open for fall 2018 scholarships; the application deadline is April 9. For information or an application form, email GHMTA Scholarship Chairwoman Ruth Kivi at kashigato@comcast.net.

This year’s recipients will be announced around mid-April.

A gourmet dessert reception will be provided by O’Brien’s Catering after the concert on Saturday, where attendees can meet the performers.

“We would really encourage the general public to come see this,” said Hill. “It’s a pretty darn good program for free — plus, gourmet desserts!”

(Photo by Keith J. Krueger) Seth Hollen sings at Musicale 2013, accompanied by his mother and teacher, Erica Hollen.

Photo by Keith J. Krueger Violinist Karen Meikle, pianist Merry Jo Zimmer and cellist Jenny Leighton perform at Musicale 2013, aided by Kari Hasbrouck.