Music Scholarships
Love to perform? Want to grow as a musician, student, and follower of Christ?
Discover and develop your gifts at Houghton.
Through the generosity of those who appreciate the arts and support the mission of Houghton College, the Greatbatch School of Music is able to offer scholarships to students who excel in music and desire to develop their potential at Houghton.
Music scholarships and fellowships are awarded on the basis of performance ability and musical promise and are competitive across the applicant pool. Every auditioning student is considered for a scholarship. (See our Auditions and Applying page for requirements.) However, participation in the Presidential Scholarship Competition is by invitation only. Download the Presidential Scholarship Application (PDF), or click to read more: Presidential Scholarship.
The Presidential Scholarship
$50,000 award ($12,500 per year, renewable annually)
to the outstanding First-Year Student majoring in music at Houghton College.
$20,000 award ($5,000 renewable annually)
to a second outstanding First-Year Student music-major.
Bain Vocal Fellowships
Growing from a generous bequest of Wilfred Bain, founder of the Houghton College Choir and pre-eminent American music educator, the Bain Fellowships are awarded annually to the outstanding soprano, mezzo-soprano, tenor, and baritone/bass entering first-year student. Recipients are usually music majors, though in cases of exceptional merit an award may be made to a non-major. Fellowship holders will participate in choral and chamber ensembles as well as Houghton Lyric Theater. Consideration for these fellowships is concurrent with entrance auditions to the School of Music. Bain Vocal Fellowships are renewable annually based on maintenance of appropriate criteria.
Instrumental Ensemble and Keyboard Fellowships
Houghton Ensemble and Keyboard Fellowships are awarded for excellence in musical achievement and for participation in chamber, collaborative, and large ensemble music-making while at Houghton College. Recipients will have opportunities for solo, chamber, collaborative, and large-ensemble performances, both on-campus and in the greater Buffalo and Rochester areas. Fellowship recipients may also be eligible for other merit-based awards. Audition for these fellowships is concurrent with entrance auditions to the School of Music, or by special audition for those not intending a music major. These fellowships are open to all talented musicians and rewable annually based on maintenance of appropriate criteria. For Keyboard Fellowships, excellent sight-reading skills are required in addition to other audition criteria.
Performance Grants
The typical holder of a performance grant will be a talented student (any instrument or voice part) choosing a bachelor of music curriculum or, in some cases, possessing solid skills on an instrument of particular need to our major ensembles or programs.
