The Common Ground on the Hill Steve Mandell Music Scholarship Fund

This fund helps promulgate traditional music by providing scholarships for Common Ground on the Hill participants and for individuals taking music lessons from individual musicians/instructors as well as instruction at other music camps.

You may not know the name, but you certainly knew his music. Winning a Grammy Award in 1973 and subsequent Gold Record, Gold and Platinum Albums as the guitarist on the infamous tune “Dueling Banjos” from the soundtrack of the movie Deliverance, that was only a small part of his musical background. Steve’s musical history started in the early 1960s, playing in Washington Square, NYC, with folk artists Judy Collins, blues legend Maria Muldaur and bluegrass mandolinist David Grisman. He continued working in the studio, on Broadway and touring into the 70s with Oscar Brand, actor/singers Ronny Cox and Theodore Bikel, country legend John Denver, banjo masters Tony Trischka and Eric Weissberg (fellow Grammy winner for Dueling Banjos), and many more. Steve had made his mark in folk and bluegrass in New York, then in the late 1980s he took his talents into Maryland and beyond. His love for the music led him to initiating a concert series at his congregation in Reisterstown, MD, judging numerous contests in MD and VA, and attending festivals and jams throughout the region.

This Scholarship Fund is intended to honor Steve’s memory and benefit those who want to learn/develop/enhance their music education in folk, bluegrass, old-timey and other acoustic Americana styles. Awards between $500 - $1,000 will begin in April, 2020, annually or more frequently depending fund income and based on need and intention. Applications will be reviewed and awarded by a board of knowledgeable musicians and others in the industry.