Whatever your major, you can apply for music scholarships at Calvin.
We offer around 60 music scholarships to Calvin students, regardless of your major or year of study. If you demonstrate solid musicianship and want to meaningfully participate in department lessons or ensembles, we invite you to apply.
Find more details and deadlines for Named Scholarships at Calvin
Scholarship applications are due by January 20, 2026.
What music scholarships are available?
Calvin music scholarships are available for:
- Composition
- Guitar
- Instrumental (Brass, Strings, Woodwinds)
- Organ
- Percussion
- Piano
- Voice
Some scholarships require students to take private lessons in the area of the award and most require participation in an appropriate faculty-directed ensemble for the duration of the scholarship.
How do I apply for a music scholarship?
- Apply to Calvin
- If you are admitted, you can sign in at calvin.academicworks.com to complete the Named Scholarships application. You will automatically qualify for every scholarship you are eligible for.
- Within the Named Scholarship application, select "yes" when asked if you want to apply for music scholarships. You will then be presented with the additional music application.
- Within the application, provide YouTube link(s) to audition recording(s). See guidelines below.
Application Review and Results:
Calvin music faculty carefully review all music scholarship applications and supporting performance auditions. We award based upon the level of musicianship and demonstrated interest to contribute to enriching musical life within the Calvin community.
If you are awarded a music scholarship, we will notify you by March 1.
- Sign in at calvin.academicworks.com to complete the Named Scholarships application. You will automatically qualify for every scholarship you are eligible for.
- Within the Named Scholarship application, select "yes" when asked if you want to apply for music scholarships. You will then be presented with the additional music application.
- We may require performance auditions for returning students who did not submit a recording as an incoming first-year or transfer student. See audition guidelines below if you did not submit one as an incoming student.
Application Review and Results:
Calvin music faculty carefully review all music scholarship applications and supporting performance auditions. We award based upon the level of musicianship and demonstrated interest to contribute to enriching musical life within the Calvin community.
If you are awarded a music scholarship, we will notify you by June 1.
Audition Guidelines
Incoming students must include an audition with their scholarship applications (see application instructions above).
While other schools hold live auditions, we require recorded auditions so that every applicant, from anywhere in the world, will receive equal consideration.
All auditions should be recorded as video (no audio only recordings, please) and uploaded to YouTube. Videos should be recorded in horizontal format and should provide a clear view of the performer’s face, hands, and instrument (for instrumental auditions) or the performer’s entire body (for vocal auditions). Please be conscious of camera and music stand placement for instrumental auditions—it is difficult to evaluate an audition where the music stand blocks the evaluator’s view of the performer. Treat your audition recording as if it were a formal recital performance—please dress professionally! Take a brief moment before you perform to introduce yourself and your selection, then relax and give us your best performance!
If you need help uploading your performance to YouTube, please refer to this page. Be sure that your videos are marked “unlisted”—videos marked “private” cannot be opened by our evaluators. You will need to paste the links to your YouTube videos into the appropriate spaces in the scholarship application form. For further assistance or questions, please email music@calvin.edu.
Area-specific guidelines:
Please upload two compositions (ideally in contrasting styles) to YouTube (video OR audio recordings are acceptable, including electronic mockups of acoustic compositions). Scores, lead sheets, and/or lyrics for both recorded compositions (in PDF format) must also be submitted. Applicants must also submit a one-page written narrative (in PDF format) describing yourself and your music that includes a description of your experience with composition thus far (Have you taken lessons? If so, for how long? How much work have you done as a composer?) and a short program note explaining the central idea and/or history behind each of your submitted compositions.
Duration: 10 minutes maximum
Repertoire: two compositions representing contrasting styles (One piece should be originally written for guitar, while the other could be a transcription. One piece may be in jazz or a popular style.)
Classical Repertoire: two contrasting selections (each at least 2 minutes long, but not to exceed 10 minutes total) from:
a movement from a sonata, concerto, or comparable composition
a solo piece appropriate for high school solo and ensemble festival
a standard solo etude
Piano accompaniment optional.
Students are encouraged to select repertoire that showcases their strengths. Ideally, one piece should highlight technical ability, while the other demonstrates lyrical or expressive qualities.
Jazz/Popular Styles: two contrasting selections (each at least 2 minutes long, but not to exceed 10 minutes total) that highlight versatility in jazz or popular styles. Choose pieces that show different genres (i.e., swing, funk, Latin) and include solo(s) that demonstrate your improvisational skills. You may perform with backing tracks or a live rhythm section.
Duration: 10 minutes maximum
Repertoire: two contrasting selections—one should be a composition by J.S. Bach (i.e., Chorale Prelude or Prelude and/or Fugue) and the other should be a composition from a different style period (i.e., if the Bach work is meditative, then this piece should be vigorous)
Classical Repertoire: two contrasting selections (each at least 2 minutes long, but not to exceed 10 minutes total) on any of the following instruments:
Timpani
Keyboard (marimba, vibraphone, xylophone)
Snare drum (rudimental or concert)
Both selections may be performed on the same instrument, but demonstrating abilities on different instruments is encouraged.
Jazz/Popular Styles: two contrasting selections (each at least 2 minutes long, but not to exceed 10 minutes total) on drum set that highlight versatility in jazz or popular styles. You should choose grooves from different genres (i.e., swing, funk, Latin) and include solo(s) that demonstrate your improvisational skills.
Duration: 15 minutes maximum
Repertoire: two contrasting selections from: 1) a Baroque work (i.e., Sinfonia or Prelude and Fugue by J.S. Bach); 2) a fast movement from a sonata by Haydn, Mozart, or Beethoven; 3) a Romantic work (i.e., Chopin, Brahms, Schumann); or 4) an Impressionistic or 20th/21st-century work.
All piano auditions should be performed from memory.
Duration: 10 minutes maximum
Repertoire: two songs of contrasting styles that best demonstrate musicality, tone, tempo, and technique. Contest and/or other solo performance pieces are most appropriate. Examples include: 1) an art song, opera aria or oratorio in English or a foreign language (i.e., Schubert’s “Die schöne Müllerin,” Vivaldi’s “Un certo non so che,” Barber’s “Sure on this Shining Night”); 2) a selection from music theatre repertoire (i.e., “I Dreamed a Dream” from Les Miserables, “Defying Gravity” from Wicked); and 3) a selection of your choice, including an arrangement of a hymn, gospel song, popular song, or jazz standard (i.e., “Go Tell It On the Mountain,” “Precious Lord, Take My Hand,” “Blue Skies”).
Piano Accompaniment: highly encouraged