Announcing this year's Tosco Music winners! Congrats to our youth scholarship winners, Guillermo Villar, Sophia Lyle and our Youth Scholarship winner, Charlie Bragg.

Every year, Tosco Music provides music scholarships to The Swannanoa Gathering, an outstanding series of summer music camps at Warren Wilson College with nationally renowned instructors and an uncommonly beautiful and community-oriented environment for musicians of all ages, experience and genres to hone their craft.

Auditions took place on Sunday, January 28, 2024. Special thanks to all Tosco Music Members who support this meaningful opportunity for Charlotte’s emerging talents!

Congratulations to each one of you -- we're excited for you and look forward to hearing about your experience at The Swannanoa Gathering this summer!

Learn more about our winners:

Sophia Lyle
“Music has been one of the greatest joys in my life.” Sophia’s musical journey began with folk music. Her love of folk/bluegrass music stuck and now, at age 24, she is ready to jump back into playing the fiddle and mandolin like she did as a child. Through recent experiences, Sophia, has been taught how to celebrate and enjoy music at all skill levels, knowing that you can work hard at something because you love it and it’s part of you, and not having to always be the best or even as good as the people you “should be as good as.”

Charlie Bragg
Self-taught on both guitar and banjo, Charlie has been playing for over 4 years and singing his
whole life. He enjoys sharing his love of bluegrass and country music with school, church, friends and family. “My favorite thing about music is the way it makes you feel.”

Guillermo Villar
Puerto Rican-born, Charlotte-based guitarist and singer, Guillermo Villar has been playing since he was a teen. Starting with rock bands in high school and jazz in college, these days, he continues to play gigs in Charlotte and take up learning opportunities like the Swannanoa Gathering as often as possible.

Click here to learn more about the other scholarship opportunities Tosco Music offers. The Swannanoa Gathering Scholarship Fund welcomes contributions from others. Tosco Music is a 501c3 nonprofit organization and donations are tax-deductible. Donate here.