​JazzWorks Scholarships

Since its inception in 1994, JazzWorks has provided scholarships to enable promising secondary and post-secondary jazz musicians to attend our three-day summer Jazz Camp.  Promoting jazz music within the youth population is one of JazzWorks’ important mandates

Why does JazzWorks give scholarships?

 JazzWorks is a community organization that promotes and fosters jazz music in and around Ottawa.  One of our mandates is to provide learning and playing experiences for talented younger players so that they can carry their love of jazz into their adulthood and keep jazz music thriving.  Giving scholarships to talented youth players who may not have the financial means to attend Jazz Camp or who may not even be aware of the depth of musical richness the JazzWorks Community has to offer is one way that JazzWorks can promote a love of jazz music and jazz education within the community.

What scholarships does JazzWorks give out?

JazzWorks currently gives out several scholarships each year to promising young players from secondary and post-secondary institutions.

  1. JazzWorks Summer Jazz Camp Scholarship (Regional): through the Capital Region MusicFest (CRMF), one outstanding student is chosen by the CRMF panel and awarded a scholarship to attend JazzWorks Jazz Camp, paid in full by JazzWorks Canada.
  2. JazzWorks Summer Jazz Camp Scholarship (National): through the National MusicFest Festival, one outstanding student is chosen by their panel and awarded a full scholarship to attend JazzWorks Jazz Camp, paid in full by JazzWorks Canada.
  3. The Tim Leah Memorial Scholarship: In memory of Tim Leah, long-time JazzWorks member and supporter, a fund has been set up with the goal of sending one talented secondary or post-secondary student to Jazz Camp each year starting in 2023.  Many thanks to Chris Herdman and Barry Bickerton, who initiated the fund and continue to collect donations at the door from their gigs.

How do JazzWorks' Scholarship Funds work?

The JazzWorks’ Scholarship Funds are repositories where monies are kept that go to funding the tuition for talented students to come to Jazz Camp, awarded as per the three scholarships above.  JazzWorks currently has two active Scholarship Funds that require upkeeping.  Small donations can go a long way to increasing the amounts in these Funds to viable levels, so please know that even gifts of $20.00 to a Fund are appreciated and will make a difference.  The two Funds available for donation are:

  1. The JazzWorks Scholarship Fund: a general fund that has been set up to receive donations that will be exclusively used to fund our Scholarship Programs, including the CMRF, the National MusicFest and other JazzWorks Scholarship Programs.
  2. The Tim Leah Memorial Scholarship: a specific Fund set up to send one student per year to JazzWorks Jazz Camp.  To date, Barry and the Blasters, composed of Tim’s bandmates, have donated over $20,000 to this Fund, both personally and from the proceeds of their concerts.  The hope is to maintain enough capital in this Fund to be able to have an ongoing Scholarship for many years to come.  

How can I contribute?

Donating to a JazzWorks Scholarship Fund is as easy as clicking on one of the following links:


All donations over $20.00 are eligible for a tax receipt, issued by the Community Ottawa Foundation. JazzWorks’ Charitable registration number is:  853852606 RR0001

How can I apply for a scholarship?

Please see the Apply for a Scholarship page.

JazzWorks Scholarship Recipients

2022
Laurent Perrault-Jolicoeur - Alun Davies scholarship
Brian An - Jerry Heath scholarship
Emil Valade - JazzWorks scholarship
Nicolas Bond - JazzWorks scholarship
Michael Khayat - JazzWorks scholarship

2020 & 2021
Due to the Covid pandemic, there were no scholarships awarded
as JazzWorks was unable to offer in-person programming.

2019
Jaeho Jang - MusicFest scholarship
Vincent Ribberink - MusicFest scholarship
Matthew Davies - Alun Davies scholarship
Mike Furlong - Jerry Heath scholarship

​2018
Vincent Ribberink - MusicFest scholarship
Mike Furlong - MusicFest scholarship
Benoit Deschamps - Alun Davies scholarship
Sylvaine Arnaud - Jerry Heath scholarship
Maxwell Simpson - JazzWorks scholarship

2017
Maxwell Simpson - MusicFest scholarship
Mikael Johannson - MusicFest scholarship
Kingsley Wong - Alun Davies scholarship
Kian Wong - Jerry Heath scholarship
Sam Anderson - JazzWorks scholarship

2016
Ross Morgan - Musicfest scholarship
Kingsley Wong - Musicfest scholarship
Orazio Fantini - Alun Davies scholarship
Andrew Turcotte - Jerry Heath scholarship

2015
Alex Taylor - Musicfest scholarship
Bowen You - Musicfest scholarship
Orazio Fantini - JazzWorks scholarship
Justin Orok - Jerry Heath scholarship
Keiran Waskett-Lambert - Alun Davies scholarship

2014
Michael Kavchak - MusicFest scholarship
Rob Wannell - MusicFest scholarship
Keagan Eskritt - Jerry Heath scholarship
Ben Heard - Alun Davies scholarship
Patrick Smith - JazzWorks scholarship

 2013
Sam Cousineau - Musicfest scholarship
Ben Heard - JazzWorks scholarship
Nathan Corr - JazzWorks scholarship
Colin Lloyd - Jerry Heath scholarship

2012
Matt Aston – drums
Samuel Cousineau – alto saxophone
Emily Denison – trumpet
Lucas Denison – drums
Deniz Lim-Sersan – piano
Joseph McDonald – guitar
Kristen Morehouse – vocals
Adrian Steeves – bass

2011
Emily Burda – trombone
Emily Denison – trumpet
Lucas Denison – drums
Claire Devlin – alto saxophone
Andre Galuban – alto saxophone
Deniz Lim-Sersan – piano

2010
Emily Denison – trumpet
Daniel Ko – alto saxophone
Eric Wagner –guitar

2009
Alex Bilodeau – bass
Emily Denison – trumpet
Nick Maclean – piano

2008
Basil Flanagan – tenor saxophone
Daniel Ko – alto saxophone

2007
Anthony Jillions – piano
Michael Lynn – saxophone

2006
Anthony Jillions – piano
Megan Jutting - trumpet