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Local group chosen for South Kaipara community music scholarship.

An alternative folk three-piece has been chosen as the second recipients of a musical scholarship set up to support local young musicians.

Established with Auckland Foundation in 2017, the Daphne Gretta Mary Stevens Community Music Scholarship was the realisation of  a lifelong dream of South Kaipara music teacher and pianist Daphne Stevens.

The scholarship awards $3,000 each year to an individual or small group to develop their musical skills, and run music activities and performances for the South Kaipara community.

Last year secondary school student Billie Hart was named as the first scholarship recipient, and found the performing experience to be a great stepping stone for her musical studies.

This year's recipients are three-piece Tweed, made up of Steff Werman, Nancy Howie and Devin Ashton. Nancy and Devin met each other as students while both performing in the Orewa College Jazz Band, with Steff joining them and forming Tweed in 2012.

Receiving this scholarship is particularly special for the group - Daphne has been a supporter from the very beginning, providing them with opportunities to perform locally every year. And a friendship has between them has also formed, thanks to vocalist/guitarist Nancy Howie being Daphne's piano tuner for five years.

"I began tuning Daphne's pianos in 2012, and have been impressed by her unwavering commitment to keep her instruments in good working order - which I think reflects her wider appreciation for the teaching and enjoyment of music."

"I'm grateful for the support that she has given me, as a piano tuner and as a musician for the time that I've known her," says Nancy.

Tweed plan to use the scholarship to make a number of community performances over the forthcoming year, as well as vocal harmony workshops for local young aspiring songwriters and singers.

The group say they are eager to get their performance programme underway,

"We all hold a strong connection to Kaipara and the Whangaparaoa Peninsula. This is where we grew up, where we found each other, and most significantly, discovered music."

"The scholarship is incredibly exciting for the band, because it will enable us to see through ideas that we have brainstormed for a while, particularly about inspiring young songwriters to hone their craft."

"As a band that tends to perform in the city or out of town, we're delighted to have the opportunity to share our music with our own local community, which has been so supportive as we've developed our musical skills."

Photo supplied by Tweed.