PRESS RELEASE

GODFREY HEWITT ANNUAL MEMORIAL SCHOLARSHIP COMPETITION, 2011

The Godfrey Hewitt Memorial Scholarship for 2011, amounting to $5,000, has been awarded to WENDY NIEUWENHUIS.

Wendy Nieuwenhuis, a Canadian organ student from Alberta, is halfway through an M.Mus. program at the University of Alberta, Canada. She is an active member of the Royal Canadian College of Organists as the Editor of the Edmonton Centre Newsletter, and is the co-ordinator of a weekly recital series at the University of Alberta. She is the Assistant Organist at First Presbyterian Church, Edmonton, where Marnie Giesbrecht and Joachim Segger are the Directors of Music. In the spring of 2012, she intends to study in Vienna with Craig Humber, himself a former winner of the Godfrey Hewitt Scholarship.

Godfrey Hewitt, C.D.,D.Mus. (Cantuar), FRCO, Hon. ARSCM, died in 2002 at the age of ninety-three. For over seventy years a prominent figure in sacred music in Canada, Dr. Hewitt left a very significant legacy to Canadian music. Born in England, in 1909, he came to Canada in 1931 after serving as Organist for the Archbishop of Canterbury at Lambeth Palace, London, in 1930. He became Organist and Master of the Choristers at Christ Church Cathedral, Ottawa, in 1931, and remained there for half a century, until his retirement in 1980. In 1973, Dr. Hewitt was awarded the Lambeth Doctorate of Music by the Archbishop of Canterbury; he was made a Member of the Order of Canada in 1976. He was famed as performer, teacher, composer, and organ designer. This scholarship was established after his death both to honour his memory and to increase the number of highly-trained professional Canadian organists, not only to serve as organists in universities, concert halls, and churches, but also to teach future generations of performers.

Previous winners of the scholarship were Craig Humber (2005), Isabelle Demers (2006), Michael Unger (2007), Ryan Jackson (2008), Matthieu Latreille (2009), and Shawn Potter (2010).

The next annual competition for the Godfrey Hewitt Memorial Scholarship in organ will close on April 30, 2012. Details may be found on the web site of the Royal Canadian College of Organists, Ottawa Centre: www.rcco-ottawa.ca

There is also a Godfrey Hewitt Prize of $5,000, awarded as the Grand Prize bi-annually at the National Organ-Playing Competition at the RCCO Convention; the next Prize will be awarded in July 2011.

Further details may be obtained from:

Frances Macdonnell
613-726-7984

E-Mail:Frances Macdonnell

---