Back
Scholarships and fellowships are essential to helping students of all backgrounds pursue an education at UCLA. Donors to The UCLA Herb Alpert School of Music are playing their own variations on that theme, creating a medley of funds for student support.
Empowering Music Educators
Many of the donors are alumni. Donald Ainsworth ’72, MA ’79 gives back in appreciation of his own time at UCLA, which prepared him for a 30-year career teaching music in public schools. The Donald Ainsworth Scholarship for Music Education Students is the first endowment to support the school’s unique bachelor’s and teaching credential program, which places 100 percent of its graduates in music education jobs.
Composing a Musical Legacy
Alumna Sara Horner ’79 and her daughter, Emily, established the James Horner Composition Endowed Scholarship in memory of the celebrated Hollywood composer, who earned his master’s from UCLA in 1976 and scored more than 100 films. In addition to attending and teaching at UCLA, he personally understood the value of financial support after receiving the Henry Mancini Scholarship Award as a graduate student.
Cultivating Diverse Scholars
Another faculty member observed the need for student support while serving on a scholarship committee. Adjunct professor Eddie Meadows started two funds to attract and assist diverse students: a scholarship in global jazz studies and a fellowship in African and African-American music. The latter is named for his wife, Jacqueline Cogdell DjeDje, MA ’72, PhD ’78, professor emerita and former chair of ethnomusicology who served as commencement speaker for the school of music in June 2019.
Inspired by loved ones at UCLA and in the music world, these gifts will open opportunities for the next generation of musicians and music professionals. And they’re a resounding reminder that student support is instrumental — in the final months of the Centennial Campaign and beyond.
Published September 2019
A music student focuses on his studies.
The next generation of musicians and music professionals
