Music Performance Awards auditions were held on April 11 for students wishing to participate in a musical ensemble.

The awards operate much like scholarships.  They are for any musically talented student who has been accepted to Missouri Southern — incoming or already attending. The financial award is then applied to tuition or room and board.

The department assesses the musical ability of interested students in areas of instrumental talent and vocal talent.  

Students do not have to be music majors or minors to audition and receive the award, they just have to prove that they would be a contribution to any musical ensemble.

The department is more generous with majors than minors, and more with minors than general participants, said Jeffrey Macomber, head of the music department. The versatility of the student’s talent also translates into who will receive awards.  

“Let’s say a trumpet player comes along who wants to be a music major. This trumpet player would have the opportunity to play in and receive credit for symphony orchestra, marching band, concert band, wind ensemble, jazz orchestra, jazz combo,” said Macomber.  

The Music Performance Awards are based on the projected need of the department as a whole, so the department renamed them a few years ago.

“They used to be called scholarships; they are now called performance awards because that’s a more accurate descriptor of what they are,” said Macomber.  “What they are is a kind of a fiscal acknowledgment of the student’s level of contribution to our ensembles in our department.”

If the department foresees a shortage in a certain area, students able to fill that gap have a higher chance of receiving the award.

“Under the special needs [category] we can have a special amount that might be a response to a particular instrumental need,” said Macomber.  “Perhaps we need a bassoonist or an oboist or French horn players or something like that.”

“We had a lot of strong students come in, and so we had a very good audition day, and we’ve already written some performance award offers and sent them out,” he said.