Your gift makes a difference.

The School of Music relies on the generous support of our donors to make many things possible for our students and faculty. Your giving supports student scholarships and awards, visiting artists and master classes, ensemble travel, our instrument inventory, and our newest initiative — Opus 88. Please consider making a gift today.

Brenna's story | Nora's story | Jakob's story| Samantha's story

Samantha Sayar

I cannot express how grateful I am to have been a scholarship recipient. As a third-year music student from Atlanta, Georgia, I knew The Ohio State University felt like home from my first Zoom meeting with the faculty — so much so that I never actually saw the campus until after I had committed, due to COVID restrictions. Since then, I have had the most wonderful experiences studying what I am most passionate about — music education. Being an out-of-state student in the School of Music, I have found expenses to be quite overwhelming at times, and the contribution to my education significantly helped support my goal to finish my undergraduate education debt-free.

After I graduate, I plan to pursue a master's degree in vocal performance and spend some time performing professionally. One of my biggest goals, however, is to hone the vocal skills of today’s youth as a middle school choral director. People are often surprised when I mention wanting to teach middle school due to it being a notoriously difficult and trying time in peoples’ lives. I see it as an area of education that needs the strongest and most passionate educators because this is where students are truly developing their individuality and character. It is an especially formative time for their appreciation of music. 

A career and an education in the arts is by no means inexpensive, and as someone who is an advocate for music education, I am incredibly grateful for your contribution to my schooling.
 

Brenna Kitchen

I got to experience the joys of many ensembles, student teaching with a wonderful mentor, and making some of the greatest friends and memories of my life. Scholarships have made this possible. I would not be here at Ohio State without opportunities like this, and I would not have been able to experience the incredible extracurriculars either. 

This scholarship has also allowed me to focus more heavily on my student teaching this semester so that when I enter my first year of teaching, I will be more adequately prepared. I am forever grateful for the experiences I’ve had at this university and through this School of Music. I am also forever grateful for donors like you that have made all this possible for students like me. From the bottom of my heart, thank you.
 

Jakob Stephens

I am a second-year music major studying in the jazz area. I’m attending fewer classes than I normally would so that I have more time to work and practice. Creating music and sharing its gifts are my ultimate life goal.

I come from Pike County in Southern Ohio. Unfortunately, it is an impoverished place. If not for financial aid and other kinds of support, I would be completely unable to pursue my passions at this high a level. I thought it impossible for me to go to college. I did not want to burden my family with the cost of going to a university. I am so glad that my family is proud of me and what I do, and that they pushed me to do it despite the costs. I think I have a unique musical voice because of my past in Pike County, because the hardships helped to define me and build me into who I am. I remember always having fun singing along to tracks and being intimately familiar with the rhythms that were happening. It wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school that I joined any musical association. I joined both choir and my high school band, and I climbed the rankings in band faster than just about anyone else. I think it solidified in me certain desires for the ability to express myself. It has helped me really embrace who I was meant to be.

The scholarship means so much to me because it means I can continue doing the one thing that I envision myself doing for all my life. Without help from people like you who are willing to support the arts, this world we live in would become drab, dull, gray-without-the-gray.
 

Nora Lemmon

I want to start out by thanking you so much for your donorship at The Ohio State University. I am a student at Ohio State majoring in Music Performance and minoring in Political Science. My instrument is horn, but I also play piano and sing! Some of my favorite classes I’ve taken in my first year include Symphonic Band, Music Theory, Horn Studio of which I’ve had the privilege of taking in the new Timashev Family Music Building. After successful auditions in the winter, I made first chair in the Symphonic Band as a freshman and was also asked to play during a master class with the horn player in the Imani Winds during their residency at Ohio State in April. In the future beyond my undergraduate studies, I hope to be playing horn professionally and teaching a private studio of young horn students. Currently, my goal is to play horn in a Broadway pit orchestra and live in either New York City or Chicago. 

I am excited to continue studying at Ohio State and the School of Music, where I know I’m building a foundation that will help me achieve my goals! I am so incredibly grateful to have received a scholarship. This scholarship will go a long way in helping my family and me pay for my tuition.