Kent Hutchinson Memorial Scholarships
About Kent
Kent was one of Tallahassee’s most well-loved musicians and the dean of local drumming circles. His message of peace and love and his passion for giving were an inspiration for our community. Kati Schardl wrote a wonderful tribute to him here.
Kent worked with our Instrument Safari and Rockstar Recording Camps since they began five years ago. The Instrument Safari camp is designed for students aged 5-7 to explore a wide variety of instruments and styles of music. The Rockstar Recording Camps are for students ages 8-12 who spend the week composing and recording a “hit single” using GarageBand and our studio instruments. Kent would spend one afternoon with each of the camps- it was consistently the favorite afternoon of all the campers. Returning students always asked when he was coming and looked forward to it for the duration of the camp.
All of Kent’s sessions, regardless of the age of the campers, started with a drum circle. He taught the students about the djembe- where it came from, what it was made out of- and the basics of how to play the instrument. Most of his time was spent teaching them how to play together as a group, starting with keeping a steady beat together and then teaching them how to improvise on top of the beat. With older campers, Kent brought in many different instruments to teach them: hand pans, talking drums, and a theremin all made appearances over the years. He would always finish by teaching them how to play the traditional African song Funga Alafia, a song of welcome and peace.
If you are able please consider donating to this scholarship. Donations are tax deductible.
Summer Camp Scholarship
Need based scholarships are now available for the Instrument Safari and Rockstar Recording summer camps. See our Summer Camps page for more information on the camps. Applications have closed for 2018. Check back here in March 2019 for Summer 2019 camps.
Percussion Scholarship
Coming Soon.