Talent Grants for Western Illinois University
Posted: Tue Jan 29, 2013 7:50 pm
Hello fellow Tubenetters:
I wanted to announce that Western Illinois University will be offering a special Talent Grant Award for Tuba for incoming freshmen in the Fall of next year. The Talent Grant Award (TGA) can cover all tuition costs and is separate from any financial aid or scholarships that may be offered to the student, so financially it can add up to a pretty sweet deal.
TGAs are different from scholarships for a couple of reasons:
(1) The primary qualification for a TGA is the student’s ability to play their instrument – in this case the tuba. Successful candidates will be required to perform in at least two major ensembles per semester.
(2) TGAs are good for eight semesters, as long as the student continues to perform in two major ensembles (we have ten).
(3) TGAs are awarded to students regardless of their declared major. You can major in “Recreation, Parks and Tourism” for all we care – it’s all about your playing ability that counts.
As a School of Music, WIU was the first NAMM-accredited school with a music business program, has one of the oldest Music Therapy programs in the country, and also offers majors in Applied Music, Composition, Jazz Studies, Music Education, and a minor in Arts Technology. The school is located in Macomb, Illinois, sometimes affectionately known as “Forgottonia” because it is in the middle of nowhere, but that’s the advantage – it’s in the middle! There are 10 regional orchestras within a 90 minute drive of the campus, so there are lots of playing opportunities for talented wind/brass players either as substitutes or regular members of one of these orchestras, and certainly WIU has placed the most students in most of these orchestras. We’re a few hours away from Chicago, but the Amtrak station is within walking distance of the School of Music, and you can be in Orchestra Hall in 3 hours and not have to worry about parking. As for the “mountain coming to Mohammed”, we sponsor a Brassfest every year, and this January we’re having the Chestnut Brass Company as our guests – in previous years we’ve had the American Brass Quintet, Principal players from the CSO, the Boston, Dallas, and St. Louis Brass, and many others.
If you are planning on attending college in the fall (or have a student, offspring, friend, whatever) planning on going, and you plan on continuing your relationship with the tuba I would urge you to consider this rare opportunity. If someone ever did a study on what school to go to so that you graduate with a minimal (or zero) amount of debt, I would suspect that WIU would rank highly.
You can contact me about an audition date, but you’re SUPPOSED to contact our admissions coordinator, Yvonne Oliver, at (309) 298-1087, or email
YL-Oliver@wiu.edu" target="_blank" target="_blank
She won’t mind if you contact me. Upcoming auditions are scheduled for:
December 8th (Macomb)
January 12th (Chicago)
February 9th (Macomb)
February 18th (Macomb)
If none of these dates work for you, please contact ME via PM or by phone at (309)263-2597, and I can work something out with the Talent Grant Committee. Usually a visit to campus entails a tour, but the School of Music does their own so you can skip the perky person walking backwards and telling you about intramural volleyball and whatnot. Besides, like every good college town, we have great pizza and wings!
By all means, check out our website, which has information about applying for admission, scholarship opportunities (in addition to the TGA) and audition repertoire at:
http://www.wiu.edu/cofac/music/" target="_blank" target="_blank
I wanted to announce that Western Illinois University will be offering a special Talent Grant Award for Tuba for incoming freshmen in the Fall of next year. The Talent Grant Award (TGA) can cover all tuition costs and is separate from any financial aid or scholarships that may be offered to the student, so financially it can add up to a pretty sweet deal.
TGAs are different from scholarships for a couple of reasons:
(1) The primary qualification for a TGA is the student’s ability to play their instrument – in this case the tuba. Successful candidates will be required to perform in at least two major ensembles per semester.
(2) TGAs are good for eight semesters, as long as the student continues to perform in two major ensembles (we have ten).
(3) TGAs are awarded to students regardless of their declared major. You can major in “Recreation, Parks and Tourism” for all we care – it’s all about your playing ability that counts.
As a School of Music, WIU was the first NAMM-accredited school with a music business program, has one of the oldest Music Therapy programs in the country, and also offers majors in Applied Music, Composition, Jazz Studies, Music Education, and a minor in Arts Technology. The school is located in Macomb, Illinois, sometimes affectionately known as “Forgottonia” because it is in the middle of nowhere, but that’s the advantage – it’s in the middle! There are 10 regional orchestras within a 90 minute drive of the campus, so there are lots of playing opportunities for talented wind/brass players either as substitutes or regular members of one of these orchestras, and certainly WIU has placed the most students in most of these orchestras. We’re a few hours away from Chicago, but the Amtrak station is within walking distance of the School of Music, and you can be in Orchestra Hall in 3 hours and not have to worry about parking. As for the “mountain coming to Mohammed”, we sponsor a Brassfest every year, and this January we’re having the Chestnut Brass Company as our guests – in previous years we’ve had the American Brass Quintet, Principal players from the CSO, the Boston, Dallas, and St. Louis Brass, and many others.
If you are planning on attending college in the fall (or have a student, offspring, friend, whatever) planning on going, and you plan on continuing your relationship with the tuba I would urge you to consider this rare opportunity. If someone ever did a study on what school to go to so that you graduate with a minimal (or zero) amount of debt, I would suspect that WIU would rank highly.
You can contact me about an audition date, but you’re SUPPOSED to contact our admissions coordinator, Yvonne Oliver, at (309) 298-1087, or email
YL-Oliver@wiu.edu" target="_blank" target="_blank
She won’t mind if you contact me. Upcoming auditions are scheduled for:
December 8th (Macomb)
January 12th (Chicago)
February 9th (Macomb)
February 18th (Macomb)
If none of these dates work for you, please contact ME via PM or by phone at (309)263-2597, and I can work something out with the Talent Grant Committee. Usually a visit to campus entails a tour, but the School of Music does their own so you can skip the perky person walking backwards and telling you about intramural volleyball and whatnot. Besides, like every good college town, we have great pizza and wings!
By all means, check out our website, which has information about applying for admission, scholarship opportunities (in addition to the TGA) and audition repertoire at:
http://www.wiu.edu/cofac/music/" target="_blank" target="_blank