Non-Profit Endowed Scholarship Fund to Honor Late African American Music Teacher

Washington, DC — In every discipline, dedicated teachers are noteworthy and deserving of praise. Music teachers, for their marvelous talents, are especially gifted and active purveyors of human culture and heritage. Each year millions of youth and adults pursue an interest in the performing arts, especially music. An irreplaceable core which connects lives worldwide, music is indispensable. From joyous occasions to mourning, music provides meaning and validation. The teaching of music integrates disciplines and thus exposure to and expression of music, in all its many aspects, enhances humanity.

The BSW Music Fund urges every community to acknowledge these individuals: music educators, both the professionally certified and those who are not but still benevolently share their musical talents, and the entities providing instruments, sheet music, musical supplies and musical materials. Communities should express appreciation all throughout the year but especially during the months of April (i.e., Jazz Appreciation Month established by the Smithsonian’s National Museum of American History in 2002) and June (i.e., National African American Music Month established by Proclamation of USA President Barack Obama in 2009).

 

About the Teacher
The late music teacher, Belinda Staten Womack, was a classically trained Mezzo Soprano who maintained certified music educator credentials for many decades prior to her untimely death due to complications of multiple sclerosis. She eventually retired from the Washington, DC Public Schools system. She ascertained music teaching and instrumental prowess as a 1973 graduate, music education and voice major, from Winston-Salem State University then under the tutelage of Dr. Permilla F. Dunston and Mr. Robert L. Morris. She too gleaned musicianship from her previous study under Dr. Saundra Dixon of Livingstone College and earlier, in Forsyth County North Carolina through Mr. Rudolph V. Boone, Sr. (retired) of Carver High School and the late Mrs. Maxine Blackwell of East Forsyth High School. A tribute web site at www.bswnc.org exists currently to share in perpetuity the unforgettable and magnificent voice of Maestra Womack, in honor of her musical legacy and the courage she exhibited during her eventful life.

About the Scholarship
The Belinda Staten Womack Memorial Music Appreciation Endowed Scholarship Fund was created through the non-profit Winston-Salem State University Foundation by one of her daughters. The primary objective of the scholarship is to promote music literacy by supporting music majors with an emphasis on obtaining music teacher certification and vocal as well as instrumental performance. The scholarship still is in its funding phase.

For inquiries specific to the nonprofit Winston-Salem State University Foundation, contact Andrea M. Jenkins, Director of Development for Major and Planned Gifts at (336) 750-3114 and jenkinsam@wssu.edu.

 

PRESS CONTACT:
DaBeth Manns
(336) 793-2011
admin@bswnc.org