Friday, May 1, 2015

SAMRO SCHOLARSHIPS



Deadline: May 15, 2015

Are you South Africa’s next vocal sensation? If you are a gifted young jazz or opera singer, you could win a coveted SAMRO Overseas Scholarship.

Applications for the 2015 SAMRO Overseas Scholarships for singers are now open, but the May 15 2015 deadline is fast approaching. Music students and young professionals aged 32 and younger are eligible to apply for these prestigious music study awards.

Every year since 1962, the SAMRO Foundation – which manages music education and corporate social investment programmes on behalf of the Southern African Music Rights Organisation – offers South Africa’s gifted music students the opportunity to win one of two lucrative scholarships to further their postgraduate studies overseas.

One of these is awarded in the Western Art (or “classical”) music genre and the other is presented for excellence in jazz music. The scholarships operate on a four-year cycle, alternating among instrumentalists, composers, keyboard players and singers.

In 2015, the SAMRO Foundation is inviting applications from music students majoring in vocal performance at a South African university. Applicants must be citizens of South Africa, Botswana, Lesotho or Swaziland, born after May 15, 1982.

The two main overseas scholarship awards are currently valued at R170,000 each, with a number of subsidiary prizes also available for exceptional candidates. The total prize pot for this highly regarded annual music competition amounts to almost R500,000.

The SAMRO Overseas Scholarships Competition has produced a gallery of illustrious singing alumni over the past 50 years.

The scholarships competition takes the format of three rounds, adjudicated by a panel of music experts and culminating in a public gala concert at the Linder Auditorium in Johannesburg. There, the two top candidates in each category will be required to perform a number of prescribed and individually selected compositions, accompanied by professional musicians.

Prospective candidates for the 2015 SAMRO Overseas Scholarships for singers are invited to download the regulations and the application form from the SAMRO Foundation website (www.samrofoundation.org.za). Applications should be submitted to: SAMRO Foundation, 20 De Korte Street, Braamfontein, 2017, before Friday, May 15, 2015.

Enquiries may be directed to anriette.chorn@samro.org.za