The Rhythm Studio Foundation Scholarship is an annual award aimed at talented and passionate 11 to 18 year-old musicians in need of financial support to help reach their full potential. The scheme is now in its 8th year and in total we have made over 50 awards of between 50% -100% of music tuition fees. Many of our Alumni have gained places at leading music colleges and universities to continue their musical journey.
Kezia
I love jazz, both old styles and the music that a lot of contemporary jazz musicians are writing that is influenced by afrobeat, hip hop, R&B, etc. I like listening to a lot of R&B and hip hop but I also love classical music, particularly music written for the piano. In terms of songwriting, I’ve been very inspired by Frank Ocean and the way he writes and phrases melody in particular. I also have been hugely inspired by Stevie Wonder as a composer, vocalist and instrumentalist. It’s very difficult for me to pick one but my favourite song is either Sweet Life by Frank Ocean or Overjoyed by Stevie Wonder, they both sum up what I love most about each artist.
It has been so helpful to have a place to perform, learn and develop my music and I have really benefited from the dedication of the teachers at The Rhythm Studio. Prior to joining the Rhythm Studio all of the playing and writing music that I did was solitary so the Rhythm studio has been such an important context for me to develop and receive feedback. Last term I made a video for one of my songs for The Rhythm Studio instagram which was a really great experience as I had never done this before and it was a really nice way of sharing and performing despite the inability to perform in person.
I really want to develop all aspects of my music making that I possibly can, both in my instrumental ability, in songwriting and producing. I am currently focused most on improving my production and also practicing as much as I can and working on my piano and guitar playing as in the past my focus has been more on singing and songwriting. Beyond that I really don’t know what’s next but I hope to learn and improve as much as I can in the next two years of doing A levels and then see where that takes me.
