Music Scholarships

 

Welcome! Our department currently offers four types of scholarships. Please explore available scholarships and the policies and procedures. Feel free to contact us with any questions.

Music Scholarships

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Incoming/New Music Students Scholarships, students must either be new to WWU or a current WWU student who is not already involved in the program. Current WWU music majors, music minors, or those enrolled in music lessons or ensembles should instead review the returning student scholarships. 

How to Apply and the Deadline

All scholarship applicants must complete an Entrance & Scholarship audition and submit the Entrance & Scholarship Audition form. To receive priority consideration for new scholarship awards, students must submit or perform the priority consideration deadline listed on the Entrance & Scholarships Audition website. Students are still eligible for scholarships after the priority deadline.

Award Amount

The award amounts for the Incoming/New Music Student Scholarships may vary from year to year, but in the past, they have typically ranged from $750 to $5,000 for one academic year. While one-year scholarships are normally awarded, multi-year scholarships may be awarded depending on funding and the number of applicants, as decided by the respective areas.

Awarding Guidelines and Enrollment Requirements

Scholarships are awarded to incoming/new students based on the following factors:  

  • Demonstrated skill level in an applied audition on an instrument or voice  
  • Academic achievement and professionalism departmental needs
  • Total number of applicants on an instrument, in area, or in department
  • Financial need award availability and criteria
Scholarship Enrollment Requirements
  • Brass Area: Brass scholarship recipients are required to enroll in a major/large ensemble such as Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, or Symphony Orchestra. An ensemble audition will be required. 

  • Jazz Area: Jazz scholarship recipients must audition and enroll in jazz ensembles. If a student also receives an award from an area listed above, they must also complete those area requirements. A jazz ensemble audition will be required.

  • Percussion, Strings & Guitar, Woodwind Areas: All scholarship recipients must enroll in both private "applied" lessons and a major/large ensemble such as a Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, String Sinfonia, Symphony Orchestra. Guitar students will enroll in choir in fall quarters, followed by a guitar ensemble in winter and spring when offered. An ensemble audition will be required. 

  • Piano Area: All piano scholarship recipients that are music majors must enroll in private "applied" piano lessons and a major/large ensemble until they receive permission to enroll as piano accompanying which will fulfill their major ensemble requirements. Piano minors and non-majors/minors must enroll in private piano lessons but do not need to enroll in a major ensemble. An ensemble audition may be required for all groups except University Choir and Symphonic Band.

  • Voice Area: Voice Area Scholarship recipients are required to enroll in Voice Lessons, Major Choral Ensemble and participate in Vocal Masterclass. The recipient may also be required to perform in an “Evening of Song” concert and may be called upon to serve as volunteer for Voice Events and Auditions throughout the year. Because of limited space in Voice Lessons, scholarships may be reserved for students that are confirmed Voice Majors. When studio space allows Voice minors will be placed in Voice Lessons and also considered for scholarships.

  • Composition: Students who receive a scholarship from the composition major must continue to major in composition during the time they receive that portion of the scholarship. 

  • Musicology: Students who receive a scholarship from the musicology major must continue to major in musicology during the time they receive that portion of the scholarship.

  • Music Education: Students who receive a scholarship from the music education major must continue to major in Music Education during the time they receive that portion of the scholarship. 

Eligibility

To be eligible for the Returning Music Student Scholarships, students must be enrolled in WWU private lessons, ensembles, or a declared music major or minor. Music Education students also enrolled in their student teaching internship are eligible for consideration. 

Application and Deadline

Students will apply through the online Returning Music Student Scholarship Application. The application opens on May 1 each spring and closes on May 31st at 11:59 pm.

Scholarship recipients will receive notification of their award status within two weeks after the submission deadline. The deadline for submitting materials is June 30th. Students who fail to meet this deadline may have a portion or all of their scholarship awards rescinded, depending on department and area needs. However, there will be a petition process available for such cases.

Award Amount

The award amounts may vary from year to year, but in the past, they have typically ranged from $750 to $5,000 for one academic year. While one-year scholarships are normally awarded, multi-year scholarships may be awarded depending on funding and the number of applicants, as decided by the respective areas.

Awarding Guidelines and Enrollment Requirements

All returning students are eligible for scholarships based on merit, progress, and growth during their time in a major ensemble and/or private instruction.

Scholarship Enrollment Requirements
  • Percussion, Strings & Guitar, Voice, Woodwind Areas: All scholarship recipients must enroll in both private "applied" lessons and a major/large ensemble such as a Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, String Sinfonia, Symphony Orchestra, University Choir, Advanced Treble Chorale, and Concert Choir. Guitar students will enroll in choir in fall quarters, followed by a guitar ensemble in winter and spring when offered. An ensemble audition will be required. 

  • Piano Area: All piano scholarship recipients that are music majors must enroll in private "applied" piano lessons and a major/large ensemble until they receive permission to enroll as piano accompanying which will fulfill their major ensemble requirements. Piano minors and non-majors/minors must enroll in private piano lessons but do not need to enroll in a major ensemble. An ensemble audition may be required for all groups except University Choir and Symphonic Band.

  • Brass Area: Brass scholarship recipients are required to enroll in a major/large ensemble such as Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, or Symphony Orchestra. An ensemble audition will be required. 

  • Jazz Area: Jazz scholarship recipients must audition and enroll in jazz ensembles. If a student also receives an award from an area listed above, they must also complete those area requirements. 

  • Music Education: Students who receive a scholarship from the music education major must continue to major in Music Education during the time they receive that portion of the scholarship. 

  • Composition: Students who receive a scholarship from the composition major must continue to major in composition during the time they receive that portion of the scholarship. 

  • Musicology: Students who receive a scholarship from the musicology major must continue to major in musicology during the time they receive that portion of the scholarship. 

Timeline and Application

Applications are accepted until 11:59 pm on April 1st. All applicants3 will be notified of award decisions on or around April 15. Apply Now

Purpose

The purpose1 of the Music Department Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship is to:

  • Recruit and retain music students representing historically underrepresented and systemically oppressed, racialized, and marginalized communities—inclusive of LGBTQ+ identities
  • Support these students’ academic pursuits and experience
  • Help the Department of Music flourish as an inclusive artistic community

Eligibility

Eligible applicants include both prospective and returning students who are (a) accepted as music majors or minors, and (b) in good academic standing. The Music Department may verify eligibility by reviewing each student’s departmental status and academic transcripts. All eligible students may reapply each year, though preference may be given to applicants who have not yet been awarded the Music Department DEI Scholarship.

Criteria and Evaluation

Awards will be based on information provided in the application below and evaluated by an appointed committee of Music Department faculty2. Whenever possible, preference will be made to applicants who demonstrate, in descending order of priority:  

  • Acceptance into the Music major or minor
  • Evidence of active contributions to diversity, equity, and inclusion in learning environments
  • Good academic standing
  • Strong performance or potential in the student’s area of concentration
  • Stated financial need

Notes

  1. The Music Department Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Scholarship is separate from other funding opportunities, including those within the Music Department. Applying for this opportunity has no effect on and is not affected by other funding opportunities for which the applicant may have applied.

  2. The awarding committee will consist of 3-4 Music Department faculty, at least 2 of whom serve on the Music Department Scholarship Committee and at least 2 of whom serve on the Music Department Strategic Planning Committee. Writing style will have no effect on how application responses will be viewed.

  3. Depending on the amount of funding available in a given application year, the Music Department DEI Scholarship Awarding Committee may make multiple awards of varying amounts. Similarly, the committee may choose to not award any funding, should no applicant satisfactorily meet the stated awards criteria.

Support and Purpose

Support for Music Department emergency scholarships comes from the Murray Music Scholarship Fund.

The fund’s purpose is to provide support for students in the Music program who contribute multiple hours to the Department of Music through their leadership, musicianship, academic performance, and have a short-term financial need.

Application and Review Timeline

Applications are accepted on a rolling basis, with three quarterly review dates throughout the academic year:

  • October 15
  • January 15
  • April 15

One week after each review date, members of the Scholarship Committee will review applications and make awards based on available funding. The average award amount is $500. Priority will go to students who have not been previously awarded funding.

Apply Now

Music Processing Policies and Procedures

All music scholarship recipients must submit a thank-you letter and accept their scholarship through Web4U.

New/Incoming Student Recipients: Please wait to complete the following steps until notified by the Music Advisor via email. The email will be titled "Music Scholarship Next Steps" and will be sent after the confirmation form is received and the scholarship has been entered into the WWU system.

All recipients must accept their scholarship via Web4U unless otherwise notified in the award email.

  1. Visit MyWestern
  2. Select Web4U in the top menu
  3. Select the Financial Aid & Scholarships
  4. Select Financial Aid & Scholarships
  5. Select Accept WWU Scholarships
  6. Read and accept the university terms of the scholarship
  7. Select YES or NO to publicize your scholarship award
  8. If YES, fill in the requested information >> SUBMIT
  9. If NO >> SUBMIT
  10. Repeat steps 4-9 if needed.

Thank You Letter Policies and Procedures

  1. Download Thank You Letter Instructions
  2. Submit letters through the Music Thank You Letter Submission form as shared links only. Files must be named "Last Name, First Name, Fund Name." Submit share links only to Word Doc files only. PDFs and photos are not accepted.

Music scholarship recipients must submit a thank you letter to each fund that contributed to their award, as outlined by foundation guidelines. See the scholarship award email for the contributing fund information listed in the first paragraph. The number of required letters varies by the recipient. Students with a tuition waiver are exempt from this requirement, as specified in their award email.

Donors have no role in selecting scholarship recipients. Letters should not include the dollar amount or directly thank the donor for being selected. Express gratitude for the foundation's support of the music department, rather than for selecting or awarding scholarships.

Each letter must be addressed to the corresponding greeting listed below which is decided by the donor. Funds with multiple donors or donors that wish to remain anonymous will request the greeting to be “Dear Generous Donor.” 

Fund Name

Required Greeting

Ada and Don Walter Endowment Fund

Generous Donor

Albert C. Shaw Music Education Scholarship

Albert C. and Dolores A. Shaw

Arthur C. Hicks Piano Scholarship

Generous Donor

Brass Performance Scholarship Endowment

Pacific Marine Foundation, Attn: David Wallace

Christopher Bianco Music Scholarship

Generous Donor

Dee Bergholz Music Scholarship

Bergholz Family

Dorothy Kirk Westman Scholarship in Music

Diane Parker

Dr. Willard A. and Anne W. Brown Music Endowment

Melissa Ballou and Debbie Brown Aylott

Ford Hill Piano Scholarship

Ford D. Hill

Frances Jean Miller Endowment

Miller Family

Gene Zoro Clarinet Scholarship

Gene Zoro; Peggy Zoro

Gregory Cox Music Scholarship

Cox Family

Guelker-Cone Family Concert Choir Endowment

Leslie Guelker-Cone

Jazz Project Scholarship

The Jazz Project, Attn: Jud Sherwood

Jeffrey Gilliam Piano Scholarship Endowment

Generous Donor

Ken Copeland Music Scholarship

Generous Donor

L. Mildred Hurd Memorial Scholarship

Generous Donor

Lloyd Walworth Music Scholarship

Diane Walworth

Mary Morrison Family Music Scholarship

Mary Morrison Murray

Murray Music Scholarship

Generous Donor

Music Department Scholarship

Generous Donor

Music Merit Department Scholarship

Generous Donor

Norma Hall-Alice M Stout Memorial Endowment 

Generous Donor

Patricia S. Woods Day Music Scholarship

Shari Campbell

Peter A. Botting Scholarship

Pete and Maureen Botting

Piper Carr Guitar Endowment

G. Piper Carr

Rhoda Carrick Keagle Music Scholarship

Generous Donor 

String Scholarship

Generous Donor

Terry Clark Music Scholarship

Terry Clark

The Jazz Project Annual Scholarship

The Jazz Project, Attn: Jud Sherwood

Virginia Hunter Voice Scholarship

Family of Virginia Hunter

Western Voices

Generous Donor

Wilhite Family Music Scholarship

Carolyn Wilhite

William D. Cole Scholarship

Generous Donor

William Sanford Piano Scholarship

Sibyl Sanford

Woodwind Scholarship

Pacific Marine Foundation, Attn: David Wallace

Dear Florence Price,

As a recipient of the Hildegard von Bingen Scholarship, I am writing to thank you. I am incredibly honored to be chosen and cannot express enough my feelings of gratitude for your contribution.  

I am originally from Olympia, WA where I graduated from Capital High School in 2014. I was drawn to Western Washington University by its music department and its unique “small school” feel while still being a large and diverse campus. During my time at Western, I have performed in the University Symphonic Orchestra, and Concert Choir and have participated in several small chamber groups, including the scholarship string quartet.

Next year will be my senior and final year at Western, and I will be graduating with a Bachelor of Music in Performance, and a minor in political science. These past three years have been the most inspiring, eye-opening years of my life and I have learned more about myself and the world around me than I could have possibly imagined. After graduation, I plan to attend a summer intensive program to further my technique and artistry and hopefully pursue a master’s degree in the fall of 2019. 

Through this act of philanthropy, you are helping me achieve my dream and reach graduation sooner than previously expected. This scholarship will allow me to focus on my studies and have more time to practice which would otherwise be dominated by the need for a full-time job. I can also participate in more chamber ensembles and take more classes to fulfill my political science minor.

I am inspired by your donation and look forward to a time when I can support another student like myself. Thank you again for your generous contribution. I am truly grateful for your support in helping to fund my education.

 

Sincerely,

Clara Schumann

Scholarship Enrollment Requirements

  • Brass Area: Brass scholarship recipients are required to enroll in a major/large ensemble such as Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, or Symphony Orchestra. An ensemble audition will be required. 

  • Guitar Area: All recipients will enroll in a major/large ensemble in fall quarter, followed by a guitar ensemble in winter and spring. Guitar students may enroll in University Choir without an audition or audition for band or orchestra on another instrument.

  • Percussion, Strings & Guitar, Voice, Woodwind Areas: All scholarship recipients must enroll in both private "applied" lessons and a major/large ensemble such as a Symphonic Band, Wind Symphony, String Sinfonia, Symphony Orchestra, University Choir, Advanced Treble Chorale, and Concert Choir. An ensemble audition will be required. Jazz ensembles do not apply to ensemble requirements for these areas.  

  • Piano Area: All piano scholarship recipients that are music majors must enroll in private "applied" piano lessons and a major/large ensemble until they receive permission to enroll as piano accompanying which will fulfill their major ensemble requirements. Piano minors and non-majors/minors must enroll in private piano lessons but do not need to enroll in a major ensemble. An ensemble audition may be required for all groups except University Choir and Symphonic Band.

  • Jazz Area: Jazz scholarship recipients must audition and enroll in jazz ensembles. If a student also receives an award from an area listed above, they must also complete those area requirements. A jazz ensemble audition will be required.

  • Music Education: Students who receive a scholarship from the music education major must continue to major in Music Education during the time they receive that portion of the scholarship. 

  • Composition: Students who receive a scholarship from the composition major must continue to major in composition during the time they receive that portion of the scholarship. 

  • Musicology: Students who receive a scholarship from the musicology major must continue to major in musicology during the time they receive that portion of the scholarship. 

Donors

The Western Washington University Department of Music is grateful for the many generous donors who support our students through the following scholarship funds:

  • Ada and Don Walter Endowment Fund
  • Albert C. Shaw Music Education Scholarship
  • Arthur C. Hicks Piano Scholarship
  • Brass Performance Scholarship Endowment
  • Christopher Bianco Music Scholarship
  • Dee Bergholz Music Scholarship
  • Dorothy Kirk Westman Scholarship in Music
  • Dr. Willard A. and Anne W. Brown Music Endowment
  • Ford Hill Piano Scholarship
  • Frances Jean Miller Endowment
  • Gene Zoro Clarinet Scholarship
  • Gregory Cox Music Scholarship
  • Guelker-Cone Family Concert Choir Leadership Endow
  • Hall-Stout Memorial Endowment
  • Jeffrey Gilliam Piano Scholarship Endowment
  • L. Mildred Hurd Memorial Scholarship
  • Lloyd Walworth Music Scholarship
  • Murray Music Scholarship
  • Music Department Scholarship
  • Music Merit Department Scholarship
  • Patricia S. Woods Day Music Scholarship
  • Peter A. Botting Scholarship
  • Richard Castillo Memorial Scholarship
  • Rhoda Carrick Keagle Music Scholarship
  • Sanford Piano Scholarship
  • String Scholarship
  • Terry Clark Music Scholarship
  • The Jazz Project Scholarship
  • Virginia Hunter Voice Scholarship
  • Western Voices
  • Wilhite Family Music Scholarship
  • William D. Cole Scholarship
  • Woodwind Scholarship

Support Our Students

Contributions help the Music Department support critical needs like scholarships, student travel and networking opportunities, visiting artists, and masterclasses.

Learn about how to donate to our program!

Looking for more information?

If you have any questions, we're happy to find you an answer. Call the Music Department Office 360-650-3130, or view the directory of faculty and staff.