Theodore Presser, the founder of The Presser Foundation, had a passion for music education. The music publisher began his career as a music educator. When he created the Foundation, he committed it to “music education and music philanthropy.”
The Presser Foundation has long supported students of music at institutions of higher education. While the Scholar Award program has evolved over the years, its focus of serving undergraduate students has not changed. With that focus in mind, and based on the Foundation’s commitment to centering equity, the Scholar Award Committee has decided that a fundamental realignment of the Undergraduate Scholar Award program is needed.
The Foundation will institute several changes to the program leading up to and beginning in the 2023-24 academic year. Read more below about the new aspects of the Award.
New Institutions
Building on the support provided to 221 schools of music, the Foundation will engage new institutions including Historically Black Colleges and Universities (HBCUs), Hispanic Serving Institutions (HSIs), and Tribal Colleges for inclusion in the Undergraduate Scholar Award program. These institutions play a critical role in educating aspiring musicians, music educators, and music lovers.
Award Amount
As a result of the expansion to new schools and the Foundation’s commitment to continuing to serve current institutions, the Award amount given to each recipient will likely be reduced from the long-time level of $4,000.
Criteria
Currently, the Undergraduate Scholar Award has been given to a student with a high level of academic and musical accomplishment who also embodies the qualities of leadership and citizenship. The recipient is one who has grown individually and who has contributed earnestly to the success of the school of music.
Moving forward, the Award will not only celebrate a student who has achieved a high level of musical and academic excellence and be a leader within the music program, institution, and/or community, the Foundation will also ask that each nominee exemplifies equity and inclusion values. The Foundation is eager to learn more about how these leaders demonstrate these values and the Foundation’s mission to contribute to a more equitable world.
The Foundation is also changing when a student is eligible for the Award. Previously, the recipient received the Award at the end of their third year of study. Moving forward, the nominated student must be in their final year of study as a full-time or part-time undergraduate music major.
We welcome conversation about the changes shared above. Look for a blog post from us later this the summer to learn more about these changes and why they are being made.
