Isabelle DeLeon wins the 2011 Stanley Kay Scholarship

The winner of the inaugural Stanley Kay Scholarship award is Isabelle DeLeon. "March to the tempo of your own beat" is her motto, and it sums up her approach to music and life. Learning piano at the age of 4 and drums at the age of 7, she has spent all her life playing music but also finds time to pursue her many other interests. A rising junior at the University of Maryland, she is studying both jazz drum performance and pre-medicine, is a distinguished College Park Scholar, and a Dean's List student as well. One of the few undergraduates in UMD's top jazz ensemble, she attributes much of her growth to the mentoring of her teacher Chuck Redd, with whom she has also had the privilege to perform around the DC area.

In April 2011, she was a featured performer with the Jen Krupa - Leigh Pilzer Quintet at the Smithsonian's National Museum of American History for a celebration of the International Sweethearts of Rhythm and the launching of Jazz Appreciation Month. In 2008 she won the Washington Post Music and Dance Scholarship Award for her performance on drums. Isabelle is thrilled to add the Stanley Kay Scholarship to her list of awards she's earned.

Isabelle manages to practice and perform regularly with her family band, Ivy Rose, where she is one of the contributing songwriters and arrangers, backup vocalist, and the drummer and recording pianist. Continually gaining prominence in the DC music scene, they had the honor to open for Weezer and Ben Folds last year and have played as far as Toronto, Ontario, and New York City.

Isabelle is thrilled to have just won the Stanley Kay Scholarship to attend the New York Summer Festival this July, is thankful to God, her family, teachers and friends who have supported her along the way, and is grateful for all the privileges she has had.

The Stanley Kay Swingin' Scholarship for Big Band Drummers

"If you LOVE [drumming] you will definitely succeed as a player. If you LIKE it, you should do something else!"
—Stanley Kay

Stanley Kay is well known for his on-going stint as manager of the Buddy Rich Band and also for drumming in Buddy's stead. Throughout the 1940s, 50s, & 60s Stanley played for musical greats Patti Paige, Frankie Laine and Josephine Baker. He went on to conduct and create acts for show biz icons Maurice and Gregory Hines ("Hines, Hines and Dad") and actress Michele Lee. In the 1980s he became Entertainment Director for The New York Yankees and in 1992 founded the world-renowned DIVA Jazz Orchestra. Stanley remained DIVA's creative force and CEO until his passing in June, 2010.

Sherrie Maricle and The DIVA Jazz Orchestra will honor the musical legacy, integrity, creativity and excellence of Stanley Kay through his scholarship, offering an opportunity for a seriously swingin' big band drummer between the ages of 15—21 to attend any two-week session of The New York Summer Music Festival (see www.nysmf.org for details) free of charge.*