Matthew Gambon

JENSEN BEACH — For the past four years, Matthew Gambon has been heavily involved in the band program at Jensen Beach High School, performing with the jazz band and the jazz combo in various locations around Martin County. Now, he is taking his next step in his musical education.

Gambon, 18, graduated from Jensen Beach High School in the Class of 2011. In July, he was accepted to Musicians Institute, a prestigious music school located in Hollywood, California. Here, he plans to major in Music Performance on Electric Bass. The school focuses on contemporary music, such as rock, jazz, funk, and progressive.

Musicians Institute is holding a competition for a Full Ride Scholarship in which each contestant had to submit a video recording of an original piece. First prize for this contest is a full ride to Musicians Institute + $10,000 in living expenses, second prize is a full ride without living expenses, and third place is credit against half tuition at Musicians Institute.

The first round is a voting round, which started on July 25th, in which each contestant rallies their friends, family, and community to support them in their journey to becoming professional musicians. Once the voting round ends on August 13th, the staff members at Musicians Institute will consider the Top 25 contestants, and choose five to continue to the final round. The Top 5 contestants will then be sent to the school in Hollywood to perform live in front of a panel of judges in the beginning of September, and the winners will be announced.

Matt hopes to reach out to the community through TCPalm to gain support in his musical endeavors. "I'm very passionate about expanding my education in music," he says, "And I strongly feel that Musicians Institute is the best place for me to gain the experience that will be beneficial for my career."

At the end of this article is a link to his video. Gambon wrote, recorded, and mixed the music for this video. He performed all of the instruments in this original piece as his entry for the scholarship competition. "It would mean so much to me if I could have my community vote for me," he says.

Votes can be cast once per day from each e-mail address used. Send this deserving student from your community to the school of his dreams! http://fullride.sonicbids.com/BandDetailsVideo.aspx?b=28935&bn=Matthew%20Gambon - TCPalm