Hi, Are there any music scholarships even when not applying for a music major?
Yes, at some schools there are. You need to research each school.
There are scholarships to be had for students who are willing to be part of an ensemble on campus but not major in Music, especially if the applicant plays an instrument that the institution doesn’t get a lot of applicants for. My D18 is an intended music major, but she visited a small LAC that had a weak music department. They said she would qualify for a really generous scholarship because they haven’t had a student oboe at their institution in 6 years.
That makes sense, but on my own kid’s list, it’s primarily the schools with stronger music departments that offer scholarships for non-majors. These are small schools, though, so I think the reason is primarily they want a world-class ensemble. They are strong in music, but need more talented folk to fill out the groups.
The scholarships are fairly small as compared with tuition, but they stack with academic merit.
Ask here http://talk.qa.collegeconfidential.com/music-major/
Also CWRU has an “Art Acheivement Scholarship”
A small number of scholarships of $10,000 per year are available to students who exhibit excellence in either music or studio art, regardless of whether they will major in those areas. All students who audition for the B.A. in Music or the B.S. in Music Education will be considered for these highly competitive scholarships, and students not wishing to major in music can also be considered for an Arts Achievement Award in music by submitting an online audition video (see our Application Procedures page).
http://music.case.edu/prospective-undergraduate-students/undergraduate-scholarships/
My DD is also an oboe olayer…and English Horn…and she owns her own really excellent quality professional level instruments. One college criteria she had was being able to play in a college orchestra. I can tell you…that was THE hardest criteria for her to fulfill.
She is a Santa Clara graduate…played in their orchestra for four years as first oboe. She also played the EH…and the director was thrilled because the school didn’t own that instrument…so previously she had been unable to choose pieces that required an EH.
My kiddo got $250 a quarter…$750 a year…as a performance award. In addition, as long as she played in the orchestra, her weekly private lessons were at no cost…that was a nice savings.
Some schools have larger awards for non-majors…some don’t.
My kid spoke to each orchestra director, music department chairperson, and private teacher…for each school to which she applied. Start there. Send emails to these folks telling of your kiddo’s interest in music as a non-major. They will tell you what is possible.
My son got a 17K music scholarship from Univ. of Rochester (cello). Tried for the competitive 5K music scholarship at Northeastern, but didn’t get it.
These give $ to non majors-Davidson has a really good music scholarship if I remember correctly. Also Denison is building a brand new fine arts center. They are looking for musicians to fill it so scholarship $$ there. St Olaf gives as well I think though level must be pretty high. College of Wooster, University of Puget Sound and Whitman.
D received a presidential talent scholarship in music (Vocal performance) from GW. (15k per year.) She wasn’t required to major in music, but need to “participate” on campus. She declined, so I’m not sure of the specifics.
Younger D was going to apply to Skidmore as a studio art major. She is a singer, as well, and had an audition cd prepared to apply for their Filene Music scholarship. Being a music major was not a requirement. I believe it is a $12k a year scholarship. She ended up getting into her first choice school ED, so she never applied.
College senior here (main instrument is oboe but I play others as well). I have a full tuition music scholarship at Richmond dependent on being a music minor. There are other schools that offer smaller scholarships to non-majors.
The Skidmore Filene scholarship is the most generous one I know. You do not need to major in music. http://www.skidmore.edu/music/scholarships/filene.php
Brandeis offers a $17.5K Bernstein Fellowship – I believe you do not have to be a music major to apply
https://www.brandeis.edu/departments/music/undergrad/LBF/index.html