Scholarships & Financial Aid
Blair Academy at Vanderbilt is committed to making the study of music possible for all qualified students. The scholarship program was established by the founders of the school in 1965. Auditions take place each spring; awards are made for the coming academic year. Limited funds may be available for new students at other times of the year. Contact registrar Rachel Hobbs for more information.
Fill out the 2021-22 scholarship application
The Blair Academy scholarship application for the 2021-22 academic year will open March 2. All applying students must audition, and a completed application is required in order for a candidate to be considered. A completed application must include a teacher recommendation. Need-based applications must include the first page of the 2020 IRS 1040, 1040A or 1040EZ form. Please remember to remove or block all sensitive information (SSN) on tax documents before uploading these documents! The deadline for application submission is Monday, April 12.
Fill out the teacher recommendation form
One teacher recommendation is required, and must also be submitted by Monday, April 12. Student scholarship applications will not be considered without a completed teacher recommendation. Students may send the recommendation link to their teacher or direct the teacher to this page.
Students applying for scholarship in more than one department must submit an application for each department (i.e. submit one application for Brass and one application for Strings). Students may not apply for scholarship in both Strings and Suzuki.
Incomplete applications will not be considered.
All 2021-22 scholarship auditions will be virtual. After the application deadline, students will receive an email link to join a Box folder, where you may upload a video via an unlisted YouTube link. The deadline to submit audition videos is Thursday, April 22.
For a full list of available Blair Academy scholarships, see our scholarships page.
Departmental audition requirements
Brass
A video of two contrasting etudes or passages of solo pieces (5-7 minutes)
Folk instruments (fiddle, mandolin, dulcimer)
A video of two contrasting pieces (5-7 minutes)
Guitar
A video of two contrasting pieces (minimum of 5 minutes). In addition to the video, please also upload a PDF copy of your repertoire to the Box folder.
Harp
A video of two contrasting pieces (5-7 minutes)
Percussion
A video performing a two-mallet or four-mallet marimba solo or etude (4-7 minutes), and a concert snare drum solo or etude (2-5 minutes). Videos may be uploaded separately or as a single video.
Piano (younger than age 14)
A video no longer than of 6.5 minutes of memorized music. Include contrasting pieces from two different eras. You may stop recording in the middle of a piece in the interest of time. Try to record equal-length excerpts of both pieces. Consult your teacher about where to stop the recording. In addition to the video, please also upload a PDF copy of your repertoire to the Box folder.
Piano (age 14 and older)
A video no longer than 8.5 minutes of memorized music. Include two contrasting pieces from two different eras. You may stop recording in the middle of a piece in the interest of time. Try to record equal-length excerpts of both pieces. If playing a classical sonata movement, please stop at the recapitulation, if not before. Consult with your teacher about where to stop the recording. In addition to the video, please also upload a PDF copy of your repertoire to the Box folder.
Strings
A video, 5-7 minutes in length, of one or two pieces. If including two pieces, contrasting styles are preferred.
Suzuki Strings
Pre-twinkle students: A video of one activity determined with your teacher
Book 1 students: A video performance of one piece
Book 2 and above: A video performance of two contrasting pieces
Voice
Perform two pieces that demonstrate your current vocal ability. At least one piece must either be an art song or a folk song arrangement. The second piece can be chosen from the following styles: art song, folk song arrangement, solo portion of a choral piece, hymn arrangement, classical musical theater (no belt), or American song book jazz standard. Performances should be uploaded as separate videos. Selections may be performed a cappella, with an accompaniment track, or a live accompaniment. Applicants must be at least 16 years old by September 1, 2021 and either a junior or senior in high school. Students must be able to read music well enough to learn music on their own.
Woodwinds
A video of two contrasting pieces (5-7 minutes)
If you have questions regarding your scholarship application, contact registrar Rachel Hobbs at 615-322-7655 or via email.