RED BANK, SEPTEMBER 2, 2025 – The Count Basie Center for the Arts is proud to announce the recipients of this year’s Charlie Puth Musical Performance Scholarships are Abigail Kistler, 17, of Middletown and Emerson Granata, 15, of Holmdel. Both students will receive $1500 to be used toward any Basie Center Turner Academy musical or vocal performance program.

“We are excited to award these scholarships to Abigail and Emerson – two incredibly talented students,” said Adam Philipson, President and CEO, Count Basie Center for the Arts. “Part of the Basie Center’s mission is to make arts education available and accessible to as many people as possible, and the offering of scholarships is one of the ways we are delivering on that commitment.”

“I’m so proud to see Abigail and Emerson recognized with this year’s scholarships,” said Puth. “Hearing about their talent and dedication reminds me why we started this program just two years ago. It means a lot to support young artists through the Count Basie Center for the Arts and help give them opportunities to keep growing and chasing their dreams.”

The Basie Center awards hundreds of need- and merit-based scholarships every year, as part of its FOREVER FOR EVERYONE endowment. Puth, who was once a jazz student at the Basie Center, was named honorary chair of the endowment campaign when he last performed at the Basie Center in 2023.

Kistler, who attends Middletown High School South, spent her early years singing and playing guitar in her church, moving on to her school’s honors choir and classical guitar lessons through the Turner Academy’s music conservatory offerings.  She has also dabbled in local Broadway productions, playing Vi Moore in South’s production of Footloose And taking on guitar duties as part of Red Bank Catholic’s recent production of The Addams Family Musical.

“I am very excited and grateful to receive the honor of the Charlie Puth Music Performance Scholarship,” Kistler said. “The Basie Center has been a big part of my life for the last five years, mainly through classical guitar, but this scholarship makes it possible for me to add voice lessons to my musical training, which I’ve wanted to do for a long time.”

Granata’s interest in the arts spans from ballet, jazz and hip-hop dance, to acting and vocals. She has performed in musicals with the Basie Center Turner Academy, Matawan’s Spotlight Players, the Middletown Arts Center and others, as well as 7+ years of vocal training. She plans on using the Puth scholarship to further her dream of becoming a professional performing artist.

‘“I am beyond grateful to be chosen as a recipient of the Charlie Puth Music Performance Scholarship,” Granata said. “I look forward to continuing my musical theatre education at the Basie Center Academy through dance, vocal, and acting coaching, and also to explore classes that I’ve never tried before. I’m so thankful to the Basie Center Academy for providing me the training that will get me closer to my dreams of Broadway”.