Decorah High School student awarded a regional music scholarship

Decorah High School oboist Abigail Toussaint has been named the recipient of the Roy Schwab Scholarship. In addition to receiving that scholarship, which can be for as much as $500, her performance has qualified her to audition in May for a statewide scholarship awarded by the Iowa Bandmasters Conference.
 
At the scholarship audition, Toussaint performed a solo, did a sight reading, took a music theory test and participated in an interview.
 
Abigail Toussaint will attend Luther College this fall.  Her high school band director is Dustin Bliven.
 
The Roy Schwab Scholarship is named after Roy Schwab (1897-1965), a northeast Iowa band director who divided his time between two or sometimes three high schools in NE Iowa during the Depression, when few schools could afford a full-time band director. 

Schwab led the Springville Band to 14 consecutive 'I' ratings at the State Music Contest and led the Maquoketa band to 11 consecutive 'I' ratings at the State Music Contest.  Schwab was inducted into the IBA Hall of Fame in 1990.