LIMEHOF to Award $10,000 in Music Scholarships to Long Island High School Seniors
Ten students from communities including Huntington, Syosset, and Bellport receive $1,000 awards each.
The Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame (LIMEHOF) recently awarded Ten $1,000 scholarships to ten 2026 graduating students from across Long Island. Also, for the fourth year in a row the Pat DeRosa Memorial Scholarship ($500) was awarded by the DeRosa family in the memory of LIMEHOF inductee Pat DeRosa.
“The record number of scholarship applications we received this year is an encouraging sign for the future of the arts,” said Tom Needham, Vice Chairman of the Long Island Music & Entertainment Hall of Fame. “We are proud to provide thousands of dollars in scholarship support to outstanding students pursuing careers in music performance, music education, and theater, and we look forward to seeing the contributions they will make to their communities and the arts for years to come.”
2026 Scholarship Winners
Kolton Chamberlain (Tuba & Voice) Mastic Beach, NY/William Floyd High School. Kolton will be studying Music Education & Performance at Ithaca College.
Harry Diner (Violin & Logic Pro Electronic Music) Huntington, NY/Harborfields High School. Harry will be attending Cornell University.
Riley Fergus (Viola) East Northport, NY/Half Hollow Hills High School. Riley will be studying at The Juilliard School.
Chloe Leshnower (Classical Voice) Dix Hills, NY/Half Hollow Hills High School East. Chloe will be pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Music Education at the University of Miami Frost School of Music, with a Vocal Performance Certificate.
Abigail Ng (Violin) East Northport, NY/Northport High School. Abigail will be pursuing a degree in Music Education at Syracuse University.
Gavin Pollack (Oboe) West Islip, NY/West Islip High School. Gavin will be attending the University of Miami Frost School of Music, studying Music Education with a minor in Education.
Julius Radino (Drums) Bellport, NY/Bellport Senior High School. Julius will be attending the University of Miami Frost School of Music, pursuing the M.A.D.E. program.
Jackson Seifert (Tenor Trombone) Shirley, NY/William Floyd High School. Jackson will be attending the Blair School of Music at Vanderbilt University.
Nicholas Suwalski (Trumpet) Farmingdale, NY/Farmingdale High School. Nicholas will be studying for a Double Major in Trumpet Performance and Music Education at Queens College's Aaron Copland School of Music.
Lisa Yasinov (Voice – Soprano) Syosset, NY/Syosset High School. Lisa will be pursuing a Bachelor of Music in Classical Vocal Performance at New England Conservatory.
2026 Pat DeRosa Memorial Scholarship Winner
Christian Seymour
(Saxophone) Wading River, NY/Riverhead High School. Christian will be studying Music Education at Ithaca College.
LIMEHOF has awarded tens of thousands of scholarships to Long Island high school students since its inception. The students submit applications that are judged by LIMHOF's education committee, chaired by board member Tom Needham. This year had a record number of applications received. Students from schools in Queens and Brooklyn are eligible to apply in addition to those from Nassau and Suffolk Counties.
For more information about LIMEHOF's scholarships and educational programs visit https://www.limusichalloffame.org/scholarshipsgrants/
About the Pat DeRosa Memorial Scholarship
Mr. Pat A. DeRosa performed for many years from Manhattan to Montauk and beyond. He taught music in Huntington and South Huntington and in 2018 the Guinness Book of World Records named him the “World's Oldest Professional Saxophone Player”. (101 years old and still playing in 2022). Additionally, he was inducted into the Long Island Hall of Fame and the South Huntington Hall of Fame.
Born in Brooklyn and raised in South Huntington, Pat picked up a saxophone in the Bowery with his mom at the age of 12. After High School, he worked at Grumman before he was drafted into WWII where he played with the Glenn Miller Army/Air Force Band.
After the war, he played at The Latin Quarter and the Copacabana as well as other NYC clubs while attending the Manhattan School of Music where he received a Bachelor's and Master's Degrees in English Horn and Oboe. He played with Tommy Tucker, Tex Benecke, Lionel Hampton amongst others while on the road stopping to make a movie in Hollywood where he was invited to have lunch with Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis. When he returned home, he was introduced to John Coltrane and they played duets together for three years.
Most recently he could be seen playing with his daughter, Patricia DeRosa Padden of Montauk, on piano and his granddaughter Nicole DeRosa Padden, also of Montauk, on vocals and flute as well as sitting in with numerous bands on the East End and Western Suffolk.
Pat retired from teaching in 1978 but his students continued to contact him often. This Memorial Scholarship has been set up for a High School Senior to continue their studies in Music on the saxophone or woodwind instrument. The criteria includes a 95 or above in Music and a 90 overall average. An essay should also be provided by the student to show why they would like to continue to pursue music.
About LIMEHOF
Founded in 2004, the Long Island Music and Entertainment Hall of Fame is a 501(c)(3) organization dedicated to the idea that Long Island's musical and entertainment heritage is an important resource to be celebrated and preserved for future generations. The organization, which encompasses New York State's Nassau, Suffolk, Queens, and Kings (Brooklyn) Counties, was created as a place of community that inspires and explores Long Island music and entertainment in all its forms. In 2022, LIMEHOF opened its first Hall of Fame building location in Stony Brook, New York. To date, the organization has inducted more than 130 musicians and music industry executives, and offers education programs, scholarships, and awards to Long Island students and educators.
