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The Ruth A. Waters

Performing Arts Scholarship

RiverTowne Players is thrilled to recognize the outstanding achievements of this year’s 2025 scholarship recipients! These talented students have demonstrated exceptional commitment to the arts, remarkable involvement in the theater community, and a deep dedication to serving others. Through their passion, creativity, and hard work, they embody the spirit of artistic excellence and community engagement. We celebrate their achievements and look forward to seeing them continue to inspire through their artistry and dedication.

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Macey Coughlin

Jared Estes

Heather Santos

     RiverTowne Players is committed to encouraging, promoting, and investing in the future of the arts for those who have been involved in the theater and plan to obtain degree in the Performing Arts (including audiovisual, set design, film, etc.) Each year, three high school seniors will be awarded scholarships toward their advancement of education. A winner, a first runner-up, and second runner-up totaling $5000 in arts education funds. Applicants will be evaluated by an annually appointed team from the RiverTowne Players Board based on the contents of their application, which includes: theater involvement (at least 3 shows at RiverTowne and a lifetime total of 10 shows), theater honors and awards, community involvement (service, leadership, and extra-curricular activities), and a short essay on the impact of the arts and plans to stay involved.

     Ruth Waters is a native New Bernian and has served as president of RiverTowne Players and currently as treasurer. She has been involved in community theater since 1968 and has worn many hats since then, serving as costume mistress, assistant director, stage manager, actor, and director. Roles in My Fair Lady, Arsenic and Old Lace, You Can’t Take It with You, Cheaper by The Dozen, members of the musicals, Oklahoma, Brigadoon, Hello Dolly, The Music Man, Camelot, Annie Get Your Gun, and The Sound of Music are a few of the productions she has taken part in. Among her credits for directing are: Mary, Mary, Love, Sex, and the IRA, Run For Your Wife, Dearly Departed, Right Bed Wrong Husband, The Sound Of Music (two times), Annie (three times), Nunsense, Nut Crackers, Fiddler On The Roof (two times), Menopause The Musical, and the production that started RiverTowne Players in January 2002, Let Freedom Sing, that was co-directed and written as tribute to those that lost their lives in 09/11.

If you would like to donate directly to the Ruth. A Waters Performing Arts Scholarship, please advise in the comments/special requests box at checkout.

RiverTowne Players are ecstatic to welcome back the
incomparable Ben Sparrow for his annual Summer Jazz concert!

A North Carolina native and graduate of East Carolina University, saxophonist Ben
Sparrow has been active on the South Florida music scene for well over a decade. His
performance credits include The Drifters, the North Carolina Symphony, Under The
Streetlamp as well as Brazilian jazz artists Phill Fest, Nanny Assis, & Isac Jamba. Ben
has appeared at numerous festivals and concert series including the Palm Beach
International Jazz Festival, Jazz Fest Pompano Beach, Fiesta Sunset Jazz in the
Dominican Republic, and the International Latino Cultural Center of Chicago. In July
2025, Ben will be performing at Lincoln Center Plaza in New York City as a member of
the Brazilian big band Gafieira Rio Miami.


This year’s concert is truly special, featuring Grammy-nominated pianist Ernest Turner, 

whose career spans two decades of collaborations with

jazz and pop icons like Delfeayo Marsalis, John Legend, and Raphael Saadiq. They will

be joined by Thomas Taylor Jr., one of the most sought-after drummers in the
Southeast, and Christopher Law, an accomplished bassist and graduate student at
Peabody Institute in Baltimore. New Bern singer John Van Dyke will add his soulful
vocal stylings to the mix, completing an extraordinary ensemble!


This year's program features a myriad of diverse compositions, ranging from Fats Waller's 'Jitterbug Waltz,' to the Cuban bolero, 'Tres Palabras' and Duke Ellington's immortal 'It Don't Mean A Thing If It Ain't Got That Swing.' Whether you're a lifelong jazz aficionado or exploring the genre for the first time, this
evening promises to be a world-class experience, right in the heart of New Bern.

Ernest Turner, Keyboards * Ben Sparrow, Sax * Thomas Taylor Jr, Drums * Christopher Law, Bass * John Van Dyke, Vocals 
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