Types of outreach
- Public performance
- Scholarships
- Financial aid
- Educational subsidies for the disabled
- No-charge educational workshops
- Therapeutic performance
- Public and private school collaborations
Scholarships
NJWA has a long history of providing scholarships to deserving students and professionals. Separate from financial aid, scholarships reduce or fully subsidize tuition for private lessons, ensembles and classes, and occasionally instrument purchases and rentals. Recipients are chosen for demonstrated musical aptitude and an attitude of service.
Selection is often delegated to a second institution with direct, continuous contact with candidates. Multiple memorial and achievement-based scholarships are distributed by community institutions whose stakeholders select candidates for fully subsidized private lessons based on first-hand interaction with developing musicians. The Sally Judd Scholarship, for example, has been in effect for decades and has been granted to hundreds of promising young musicians at critical stages in their development.
In-house awards have also been given to volunteers, professional musicians, our teachers and exemplary students. Scholarships are generally not applied for directly — they are awarded based on musical aptitude, interest and service, and our relationships with outside institutions help us reach those least likely to experience our programming otherwise.
Financial aid
We want everyone in the community with the love and dedication to study music to be able to follow their passion despite financial hardship. Aid is allocated, in order, to current students who undergo a financial hardship, potential students who could not otherwise afford our programming, and institutions aligned with our goals that cannot fully fund programming for groups of dedicated students.
Read more on our donation page or ask the office about applying for aid.
Educational subsidies for the disabled
Our Music Connection program brings selected students with disabilities who are close to ready for private instruction to full readiness. We believe in it enough that we provide the preparation at a 100% subsidy and continued participation at a 25% subsidy.
No-fee community workshops
Have you ever been to an instrumental petting zoo? NJWA has given folks the chance to try an array of instruments at fairs and community events for decades. We also bring music to people who cannot come to us — nursing homes, assisted living, specialized care such as the Cerebral Palsy League, and veterans homes — and many of those performances are educational and interactive.
Maybe you have been to a Punk Rock Seminar, or a free inside look at a music production workshop, or seen an alphorn ensemble at an arts event or while doing your holiday shopping. NJWA has been enriching the area and reaching the most disadvantaged members of our community since 1972, because we want everyone to experience the joy and meaning of music.
School collaborations
Founder Dr. Ted Schlosberg came from a background of teaching in the Westfield and Plainfield public school systems, and NJWA has partnered with local public and private schools since the beginning. Whether it is something as basic as sheet music for a new teacher or program, or a full suite of education services for a private school, we are always ready to help. See our school programs for details.
