We are excited and proud to announce the 2025 winner of the Bill Verdier Irish Music Scholarship award! Congratulations to Grace Broadhead, a a talented and accomplished young fiddle player originally from Albuquerque and now living in Tennessee. The award will cover Grace’s expenses in attending the Irish Musical Arts and Dance (MAD) Weekend in Rockville, Maryland, in July, 2025.
Grace told us she first discovered her love for Irish traditional music by listening to Gaelic Storm, Scythian, and Lunasa albums handed down from her older brothers. At age 11 she started playing the fiddle, learning Irish traditional music at first from videos online. She also writes original tunes in the tradition and won first place at the 2019 Midwest Fleadh, and twice in O’Flaherty Irish Music Retreat original tunes contest.
“I have always had a passion for Irish music in particular. I am always hoping to deepen my understanding and knowledge of the tradition out of curiosity and a thirst for knowledge, as well as out of respect for the Irish culture. By attending this workshop, and by interacting with more experienced players/instructors, I hope to gain knowledge and skills that I can use to improve my teaching, and help to pass on the tradition more authentically.”
From Bill Wolfe, Board President of the Scholarship: “Grace is a talented young musician with deep respect and passion for the tradition of Irish music, culture, and language. We are very proud to offer her this scholarship, honoring Bill Verdier, to support her goals.”
We would like to say thank you to all who applied for this year’s scholarship. We are accepting applications now for scholarship opportunities in 2026; please visit our applications page. And we are extremely grateful for the generosity of the many individuals who loved Bill, shared his passion for Irish traditional music, and donated to make the scholarship possible this year and into the future.
Find out about other Scholarship winners here.