1st Recipient To Receive ScholarshipColumbus, OH – The Kirk family, the scholarship fund founder, Jack Marchbanks, and The Columbus Foundation were pleased to present Robert William Dove, a Columbus City Schools Class of 2009 senior at Northland High School, with an award letter officially recognizing Dove as the first winner of the Rahsaan Roland Kirk Music Scholarship.
Candice Kirk-Howell, Kirk's youngest sister, presented Mr. Dove with the award letter at Northland High School's Academic Awards ceremony, held in the school's main auditorium on Thursday morning, May 21, 2009.
This music scholarship is named in honor of the world-renowned jazz artist Rahsaan Roland Kirk (August 7, 1936 - December 5, 1977). Kirk was born in Columbus and widely known for his amazing ability to play three saxophones at once. In Rahsaan's all too short 41 years, he blazed a trail in jazz, as a composer and a master musician, that reflected his uninhibited range of thought and overcoming spirit. Although Rahsaan was sight-less from the time he was a toddler, he refused to let this physical challenge stop him from rising to the top of his profession and traveling the world as a jazz ambassador.
Robert William Dove, like Kirk, is a tenor saxophonist. He is a focused, intelligent and ambitious young man. Mr. Dove will graduate from Northland High School with a 4.2 cumulative grade point average. The Columbus Jazz Arts Group selected Mr. Dove as its "Hank Marr High School Jazz Award" winner in 2008. He has already written, arranged and produced three CDs of his work.
To win the Rahsaan Roland Kirk Music scholarship, Mr. Dove had to prevail over two other very talented finalists. "Rob," as he preferred to be addressed, has been accepted at the University of North Carolina -Greensboro. He will begin work on his music degree at UNC-Greensboro's Miles Davis Institute starting this fall.
Persons interested in learning about how to apply for the 2010 Rahsaan Roland Kirk Music Scholarship or who want to make donations to the RRK Fund can contact The Columbus Foundation at 614/251-4000 or e-mail their inquiry to Diane Higginbotham at "dhigginb@columbusfoundation.org".
Jack Marchbanks is a Jazz Sunday Co-Host, and is an independent writer, producer, and music historian.