Three Cape seniors awarded music education scholarships

The St. Cecilia Music Guild has awarded merit-based scholarships to three Cape Henlopen High School seniors as they continue studies toward degrees in music education. All were honored during the school’s senior awards night May 30.

Based at St. Peter’s Episcopal Church in Lewes, the guild is best known for presenting classical, vocal, jazz, organ and choral concerts for public enjoyment free of charge. Each year, the guild also recognizes an outstanding Sussex County high school senior who exemplifies excellence in music studies. An anonymous benefactor enabled the guild to honor two additional graduating students this year.

Samuel Mincey of Harbeson will receive a first-place $1,200 scholarship to major in vocal performance and music education at Syracuse University in the fall.

“My dad had a love for hip-hop and R&B groups that he passed down to me, but my love for music really began in church gospel music,” Mincey said. An aspiring flautist in elementary school, Mincey performed in many of the high school’s music groups including wind ensemble, jazz band, flute ensemble and Cape Chorale. “My dream is to teach and to encourage my students to always keep music in their lives in some way or form. I want to give children, regardless of their socioeconomic standing, the tools and fundamentals to go on to be amazing players or singers,” he said.

Cape Henlopen seniors Victoria Vincent and Conor Wiedmann, both of Lewes, will receive $1,000 scholarships. 

Vincent, who will attend Rowan University in Glassboro, N.J., in the fall, said throughout her four years at Cape, she performed in many ensembles, including jazz band, concert band, marching band and choir. “During an internship with Maysi Salt, a teacher at Lewes Elementary School, I’ve learned what a joy it is to be teaching and helping the kids find that passion for music as much as I did at that young age. We’ve sang, danced, created a fun, exciting environment for the kids to be themselves, but be safe and respectful to one another. This is why I aspire to become an educator,” she said.

Wiedmann auditioned and performed as a tuba player in multiple ensemble groups during both middle and high school. In marching band, he was brass captain for two years. He performed in the school’s concert and symphony bands, sang in the All-State Choir, and played on bass and bass trombone in the All-State Jazz Ensemble. Since 2021, Wiedmann has been a pit musician at the Clear Space Theatre in Rehoboth Beach, playing both bass and guitar.

Wiedmann said he was in his junior year when he and several seniors were pressed into teaching younger students as replacements for absent and retired teachers. “Every other day, I went to the younger class and taught them their notes, learned more about the music and how it works, and developed something I hadn’t really thought of as an outcome. That outcome was, of course, the connection I felt with the younger students and a newfound love for teaching. After that, I took every opportunity to help teach around our district, including an internship at Beacon Middle School. My goals for becoming a teacher can be summarized down to a few words,” said Wiedmann, who will study at the University of Delaware. “Learning, helping share my passion, and keeping the love alive as so many before me have done.”