Keyboard Scholarships

An award of up to $1000 a year payable at the rate of half for the fall semester and half for the spring semester is available. To qualify for this scholarship students must be entering freshmen majoring in piano or organ or a current piano or organ majors, have at least a 3.0 GPA, and provide service in the form of accompanying or other duties as assigned in the music department. In the event an otherwise qualified student applies but does not have a 3.0, he or she may still be considered if there is visible potential for academic improvement. 

First awarded in 2022, the J. D. Kelly Piano Scholarship was created by Dr. Kelly and many other friends and family in memory of his generous and gracious support of A-State and his dedication to excellence in piano performance in the region. This award is $2,500 per year, payable at the rate of half for the fall semester and half for the spring semester. To qualify for this scholarship students must be an undergraduate or graduate student majoring in piano and perform an audition for the keyboard faculty. The recipient may be renewed if they continue satisfactory progress in academics and in their area of performance.

An award of at least $200 (could be as high as $700) a year payable at the rate of half for the fall semester and half for the spring semester is available.   To qualify for this scholarship students must be incoming freshmen majoring in music on piano or organ, have an ACT score of at least 20, perform a memorized audition for the keyboard faculty, and provide service in the form of accompanying or other duties as assigned in the music department. Memorized audition music should be at least equal to the difficulty level of the Sonata in G major, Op. 79 by Beethoven.

An annual award of $800 a year is available payable at the rate of half in the fall semester and half in the spring semester. To qualify for this scholarship students must be graduating seniors from Jonesboro High School with a minimum overall GPA of 3.0 who plan on attending A-State, demonstrate sound moral character and social-emotional adjustment, and participate in extracurricular activities. Preference is given first, to a double major in keyboard and vocal music; second, to a major in keyboard; third, to a major in vocal music; fourth, to any music major. Students must maintain a 3.0 or higher as a full time student of A-State.