Free Guitars for Future Stars names its first Ed Hall Memorial Music Scholarship recipient
Free Guitars for Future Stars recently announced Anthony Mrkvicka as its first recipient of their Ed Hall Memorial Music Scholarship.
The $1,000 scholarship honors the memory of McHenry County resident and accomplished guitarist Ed Hall.
In 1991, Hall won the National Fingerpicking Guitar Championship in Winfield, Kansas. He introduced the McHenry County community to guitarists from around the world with his annual, "Ed Hall's Guitar Christmas" concerts at the Woodstock Opera House. In 2009, he helped launch the Free Guitars for Future Stars program and in 2013 he joined as a teacher, board member, and fundraiser.
Anthony Mrkvicka has been a part of Free Guitars for Future Stars for 4 years. He has also played saxophone and percussion for years in the Prairie Grove High School bands and with the McHenry County College Jazz Band. Mrkvicka is continuing a music and business education at the Crystal Lake college.
Free Guitars for Future Stars is granting this award to Anthony in honor of the work Ed Hall did for the McHenry County community and in memory of the love he had for the guitar and music.
"Ed loved to share his talent and was so encouraging to those trying to learn to play guitar, I only wish he could have met Anthony and seen how talented he is," said Scott Neumann, FG4FS Executive director.
Ed's widow, Debbie Hall, agreed saying, "Ed would have been so proud, he was so happy to spread his love of music".
Applications for this scholarship are available through all McHenry County high schools or from Free Guitars for Future Stars, P.O. Box 1781, Woodstock, IL 60098.
Free Guitars for Future Stars is a 501(c)3 nonprofit organization founded in 2009 to provide guitars and lessons to children, ages 10 to 17, from lower-income families in McHenry County. Children interested in joining the FG4FS basic program should apply at www.fg4fs.org, and click under the "Application" button to sign up online.
For more information or to be mailed an application, call Scott at (815) 975-7989.
New classes typically begin each October.