Newswire Andrew Bird teams up with Rock For Kids to offer music scholarship

Whistling enigma and hometown indie-rock hero Andrew Bird is giving one local high-school student the chance to become the Next Big Thing. Working with Chicago non-profit Rock For Kids, which provides access to free music programs for under-privileged children around the city, Bird created the aptly titled Rock For Kids Andrew Bird Scholarship. The scholarship will go to a music student enrolled at the Chicago High School for the Arts who has demonstrated financial need. The money will pay for one year of private music lessons. You can donate to the scholarship fund here.

Bird has more than just philanthropic endeavors to keep him busy this summer. He also collaborated with sculptor Ian Schneller for "Sonic Arboretum," their contribution to the Guggenheim Museum’s summer concert series, Dark Sounds. If you want to catch a regular Bird performance in the U.S. there’s only one chance: The Newport Folk Festival on July 31. He'll also play several shows in Canada. Here’s a clip of Bird in his natural habitat: