A newly-created school prize honouring the memory of a promising Blackwood musician has been awarded for the first time.
The Adam Morris Legacy prize will be presented to a Rhymney Comprehensive School pupil each year who shows promise in music.
Adam’s mother Louise Mann presented the prize to the first winner Alissia Jones, a promising vocalist and songwriter who has already recorded music and has raised funds for Velindre Cancer Centre.
Adam, pictured below right, and a former pupil of Rhymney Comprehensive, was a talented musician, composer and producer. Adam died from a rare, aggressive cancer last February, aged 23.
Before his untimely death, together with a university friend, he had registered a company to support and produce the music of other artists.
Mrs Mann has raised sufficient funds to give an annual prize for many years to come. The successful pupil will keep a replica of the main trophy, plus a financial sum.
Other money from the fund will be used to purchase specialised equipment for the music department at Rhymney Comprehensive School.
Speaking after the prize-giving evening, Louise Mann said: “I wanted to keep Adam’s memory alive and, at the same time, recognise and encourage a pupil who demonstrated talent, effort and innovation in music.
“These are qualities that Adam had in abundance and which he appreciated in others. Adam would be proud to support other young people to develop a career in music and I hope this annual event will help facilitate creative ambition.”
Adam passed away on February 22 this year after being diagnosed in June 2013 with neuro endocrine cancer – a rare cancer which spreads from the liver and pancreas.
He was ill throughout his final year studying music at the University of South Wales, but still managed to achieve a 2:1 degree.
