Margaret Schofield Memorial Scholarships for Music Performance announced

Amelia Evans and Oscar jinhyuk Ahn were awarded the Margaret Schofield Memorial Scholarship for Music Performance at Top Class Music on 10 March, at the Melbourne Recital Centre, where they both performed for an enthusiastic audience.

Amelia Evans performed Twisted, a technically challenging piece with lyrics written by Annie Ross, set to an improvisation solo of the same name by tenor saxophonist Wardell Gray. Amelia said that she was drawn to the dramatic character of the piece and its reflection of its improvisational origins. ‘The piece is definitely crazy – melodically and lyrically, and I think that’s why I enjoy performing it so much,’ she said.

Both students expressed appreciation for this recognition of their hard work along with the financial support for their continued studies bestowed by the scholarship. ‘It’s a great honour to be selected as the recipient of the Margaret Schofield Memorial Scholarship and this will certainly help me with my dream,’ said Oscar. This sentiment was echoed by Amelia. ‘Music education has been crucial to my development as a student, musician and performer through my secondary studies; therefore, I am honoured to have been selected for a scholarship that is in memory of Margaret Schofield – an incredible supporter of music education,’ she said.

This year Amelia Evans will be pursuing a degree in music performance at Monash University, majoring in Jazz Voice. Oscar jinhyuk Ahn will be attending the Sydney Conservatorium to study music performance.

The scholarship, established by the family of the late Margaret Schofield in recognition of her outstanding achievements as a musician and her lifelong commitment to music education, is available to government school students who achieve sufficiently high study scores in VCE Music Style and Composition, VCE Music Investigation, and VCE Music Performance. This program is coordinated by the VCAA and provides recipients with $5000 to assist in their pursuit of tertiary studies in music.