Five Bermudian students have each been awarded scholarships worth $5,000 towards their studies in the performing arts by the Bermuda Musical and Dramatic Society Charitable Trust.

The recipients of the 2014 Kate Huntington Memorial Bursaries, which promotes the development of the theatrical arts, are Jadiyah Bailey, Eryn Beach, Arielle DeSilva, Frederika Hill, and Marcus Smith.

Jadiyah Bailey will be entering her second year of a Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) degree in Dance at Montclair State University in New Jersey, and Frederika Hill will be starting her final year of a BFA in Dance at the Boston Conservatory this fall.

Erin Beach will be starting her first year of a Bachelor of Arts (BA) in Contemporary Dance at the Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance in London, and Arielle DeSilva will also be starting her BA in Drama and Theatre at the University of Kent, England.

Marcus Smith will be going into his first year studying for a BA in Performing Arts at the University of Tampa.

The bursaries are reviewed and awarded annually.

They were set up in honour of Kate Huntington, an active member of BMDS, who was killed in a motorcycle accident in India in August 2000.

She was only 28 years old but was active in youth drama workshops at BMDS during her teens, had studied drama at university in Canada, and had already held principal roles in several BMDS productions.

Since its inception in 2001, the BMDS Charitable Trust has donated $250,000 in bursaries and sponsorships to Bermudian Performing Arts students at undergraduate and post-graduate level.

The majority of the funding for the BMDS Charitable Trust comes from the Annual Famous for 15 Minutes playwriting competition.

Performances will be held this year from August 28 to 30, and September 3 to 6.

Tickets are available from www.bmds.bm.