Charles Scarratt, (1909 - 1979)
Founder of Birkenhead Choral Society
Fund-Raising Appeal For a Commemorative Music Award.
Charles Scarratt, a local amateur musician, died in 1979 in his 70th year. One of his lasting legacies is the Birkenhead Choral Society which he founded in 1956 and conducted until late 1978. 2009 will be the centenary of his birth and the first year of the ‘Charles Scarratt Music Award’, a new prize for aspiring music students to help them in their studies.
With the kind permission of the Headmistress, Mrs Carole Evans, and the GDST, the venue for this competition will be the existing annual Music Festival which takes place each February at Birkenhead High School GDST. An independent adjudication panel will oversee the awards and full details of the competition will be available to applicants.
This festival
has to date been a celebration of the enjoyment of music for their own pupils,
but they will be delighted to add an extra category for the ‘Charles Scarratt
Music Award’:
for entrants from the whole of Wirral,
between the ages of 16 and 20,
who have a minimum performance standard of Grade VII or equivalent.
The aim is to award three prizes:
1st - £500
2nd - £300
3rd - £200
To this end an
Account with Charitable status has been set up with the aim of raising a minimum
of £45k - £50, the interest of which will provide for the annual prizes.
Donations can be made to
“The Charles Scarratt Music
Award Fund”. (Reg. Charity No. 306983.)
If you would like to make a donation, please send a cheque to:
Ms C H Scarratt
The Charles Scarratt Music Award Fund,
c/o Birkenhead High School GDST,
86, Devonshire Place,
Prenton, Birkenhead,
CH43 1TY