The recipients of this year’s Charlie Derrington Memorial Scholarship to attend the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend have been announced. Four young musicians (aged 13-24) were selected, each of whom will attend the three day instructional weekend with their full tuition, accommodations and some travel costs paid by the scholarship.

The 2006 recipients are:

You can see photos of these young pickers, and hear audio samples from their scholarship applications on the Roanoke Bluegrass Weekend web site. The recipients are chosen based on their playing ability, and on an essay which is part of the application process.

The Charlie Derrington Memorial Scholarship is sponsored by Gibson, who donates a new Gibson instrument each year to be offered in a raffle to fund the scholarship. It is named in honor of Charlie Derrington, a long-time Gibson employee who was tragically killed in an auto accident in August, 2006.

This year, a Gibson RB-250 banjo is being offered in the raffle, and the $10 tickets can be purchased online up until November 1, 2006.

Congratulations to these terrific young bluegrass musicians.