MANSFIELD, PA – Mansfield University junior Sean Andres of is the 2018 recipient of the Percussive Arts Society (PAS)/Yamaha Terry Gibbs Vibraphone Scholarship. The $1,000 scholarship is awarded annually to a full-time student registered in an accredited college or university school of music for the following academic year.
The student must also be a member of PAS. Contestants for the scholarship were judged on a live and unedited jazz vibraphone performance they submitted.
Andres, a music business major from Tunkhannock, PA, selected “Confirmation” by famed jazz composer Charlie Parker for his performance piece as a tribute to the scholarship’s namesake and acclaimed jazz vibraphonist Terry Gibbs.
Gibbs frequently collaborated with Parker. Andres said he “wanted to stay true to style of Terry Gibbs.”
Accompanying Sean on the winning performance were professor and Jazz Band Director Dr. Jeffrey Jacobsen on string bass, and fellow Mansfield student Cole Ramsey on drums. He also credits Conrad Alexander, MU percussion faculty, for his tutelage in preparing for the performance.
The PAS awards 8 scholarships in various percussive disciplines, with winners from prestigious schools such as Indiana University, Baylor University, Berklee College of Music, and the Eastman School of Music.
“It was a great honor to be included with other musicians from some of the top schools,” Andres said.
He will be attending PAS International Conference in Indianapolis this fall. He also has started his own percussion company, producing handmade mallets, using his own creations in the scholarship winning performance.
(photos by Garret Butters)