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True Blue Jazz awards scholarship to Cape grad Will Warick

August 24, 2019

True Blue Jazz announced it has awarded the second annual John Nammack-David Ennis Memorial Jazz Scholarship.

Surrounded by the folks who made it possible, Will Warick, Cape Henlopen High School Class of 2019 graduate, was awarded the prize Aug. 16, just before leaving for his freshman year at Peabody School of Music at Johns Hopkins University.

Local jazz fans Russell and Mary Anne Scott contacted True Blue Jazz in April 2018 to express their desire to fund a scholarship that would help a graduating Cape senior and honor two great jazz men in the process. The Scotts had a long and loving friendship with Philadelphia-based drummer and saxophonist David Ennis. When they moved to the Cape Region many years ago, they took a jazz appreciation class at the Osher Lifelong Learning Center offered by charismatic jazz educator John Nammack.

When the opportunity to visit arose, the Scotts took Ennis to visit Nammack, and an instant friendship cemented around their love for jazz. In a note written to the Scotts after Ennis’s passing, Nammack referred to him as his soul brother, and he thanked them for their introduction to the man who had become a treasured friend.

The Nammack-Ennis Memorial Jazz Scholarship is presented by the Scotts and John Nammack’s widow, painter Aina Nergaard-Nammack. It will be given annually to a deserving Cape senior who intends to pursue a career in music. True Blue Jazz was chosen to administer and present the award at the request of its founders.

True Blue Jazz Festival Producer Eddie Sherman said, “This scholarship represents the very best part of our community ... the part where people stand up to make a difference. So many businesses and individuals in our community have the ability to make a difference in the life of a child, but few actually do. These three people put their money where their hearts are.”

To be a part of helping local music students, donations may be given to the TBJ Youth Jazz Initiative or specifically to the Nammack-Ennis Memorial Jazz Scholarship. For more information about True Blue Jazz and to see the lineup for the True Blue Jazz 2019 Festival,  go to www.truebluejazz.org.

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