New Century Endowed Music Scholarship Pulls Strings for Guitar and Music Composition Students

An endowment of $10,000 has given the music department at California State University, Dominguez Hills an opportunity to offer a new scholarship to students. The New Century Endowed Music Scholarship will assist music majors in the area of music composition. The scholarship is open to sophomores, juniors and seniors with a minimum 3.0 GPA. The first recipient will be chosen by the music department’s faculty to receive $250 during the 2009-10 academic year. The scholarship’s anonymous donor is an active supporter of contemporary music in southern California.

“Like other students [at CSU Dominguez Hills], most music majors carry hectic schedules of work, classes, study, practice, and family obligations,” says Jonathon Grasse, assistant professor of music. “Instruments are very expensive, as are the costs of dedicating sufficient time to composing and practicing. Composition and performance majors must burn the midnight oil if they expect to make their way in the music world.”

Grasse, a composer and ethnomusicologist specializing in Brazilian music and world music theories, contacted the scholarship’s benefactor last January- and, with the assistance of Ann Camp, executive director of development at CSU Dominguez Hills, was able to establish the fund.

According to Grasse, the music department is continually working to secure outside resources to maintain and improve a quality educational environment. Annual events such as the Rod Butler Memorial Scholarship benefit concert and the used piano sale have augmented the slim budget.

“Faculty members Sally Etcheto, Stephen Moore, Richard Kravchak, Hansonia Caldwell, and Scott Morris routinely present performance events on and off campus that greatly enhance student experiences and benefit the department through earnings and exposure,” Grasse says. “These things all add up to a healthy, transformational experience for our students.”

- Joanie Harmon