While my primary focus is piano technology, I am applying for this scholarship because the trade schools I plan to attend also offer luthier training, and I intend to learn bow rehairing as an additional skill. This is a valuable service that many musicians do not have easy access to, and it would allow me to better serve the music community alongside my piano work. There are also very few scholarships available for musical instrument trades, so opportunities like this are incredibly meaningful in helping me pursue comprehensive training.
I did not choose the trades as a backup plan. I chose piano technology because it is the only path that has ever truly made sense to me.
Growing up, I was surrounded by music, but what fascinated me most was not just how a piano sounded, but how it worked. In high school, I would watch the piano tuner who came to service our instruments, completely absorbed in the process. That curiosity became a calling when he became my mentor. He showed me that this work is about more than tuning strings. It is about restoring life to an instrument, supporting musicians, and preserving something that can outlast us. He encouraged me to keep learning and to never stop pursuing training, no matter where I was in life.
When he passed away during COVID-19, I lost not only a mentor but a sense of direction. In response, I committed myself even more deeply to this path. Through my work with Sing for Hope and my own nonprofit efforts in New Orleans, I have helped refurbish and place pianos in public spaces and underserved communities. Seeing someone play a piano they never thought they would have access to reminds me why this trade matters and why I want to dedicate my life to it.
At 32, my career goals are clear. I want to become a highly skilled piano technician who can confidently restore and maintain instruments at the highest level. I want to work in environments where excellence is expected, such as major performance venues, universities, or factories like Steinway & Sons or Mason & Hamlin. I also plan to become a Registered Piano Technician, which requires advanced training and preparation.
I will be attending one of the two top piano technology programs, both intensive two-year programs with strong placement rates in institutions and factories. These programs offer the level of mentorship and structure I have been missing and are essential for reaching my goals.
The only barrier I face is financial. Living in New Orleans as a piano technician has been challenging, with inconsistent work and times when I have struggled to pay rent and basic expenses. I also carry debt from previous music studies, making it impossible to afford tuition on my own.
This scholarship would allow me to pursue training at the exact moment I am ready, build a sustainable career, and continue honoring my mentor’s belief that learning never stops. My condolences to the passing of Amos he would be proud of the continuation of education for instrument builders through his legacy.
I first began playing the cello when I was seven years old. My aunt was a teacher, and she was kind enough to teach my brother and I. For the following decade, I took lessons from many different teachers, using many different instruments. I named each cello that I used, and I can still recall each of them and their unique tones to this day. Though I loved to play, I was stubborn and emotional, and I didn’t like doing what my teachers told me to do. Practicing my scales and positions was a chore, and lessons were a frustration. Despite my unwillingness to cooperate with my teachers, playing music was a joyful pastime and an emotional release for me. Hearing the rich tones and the honey-golden melodies would calm me down when I was mad, and excite me when I lacked inspiration. I remember laying my head to rest on the shoulder of the instrument as I held it and dragging the bow across the strings, not playing any melody, just listening to the vibrations rumble through my ears and chest.
I was in the sixth grade when I decided that I wanted to be a luthier. I loved the cello, but I knew that I didn’t want to teach or perform professionally. I knew that I wanted to attend the Violin Making School of America, but as I got older, the high cost of the school became intimidating, and I gave up on my dream before it had even begun. I decided to explore another passion of mine, and I went on to study illustration at Utah Valley University for about two years. During my time there, I learned so many valuable lessons and created artwork that I am very proud of, but even then I was thinking about how I had given up on myself, and how I didn’t really want to be an illustrator. As my mental health declined, so did my grades and my motivation to continue.
I eventually decided to drop out of school and move back home to my family. My self esteem was at an all time low, and I had no idea what direction to take myself in. On a whim, I decided to send an application to the VMSA. I didn’t believe that I would be accepted, but I worked very hard on my essay nonetheless. When I received my acceptance letter a few weeks later, I felt proud of myself for the first time in months. I felt hope that I could have a successful career in a field that I am truly passionate about.
When I picture my future as a luthier, I see a sun-filled workshop with wood shavings on the ground, the smell of varnish in the air. I see a version of myself who has learned the discipline that I lacked as a child, and who has the self confidence that I lacked in college. I want to make beautiful art, and I want to contribute to my community. Right now I am working two part time jobs to try to save up enough money to cover the costs of tuition, and even though it’s exhausting, I have never been happier. I am so grateful to be overwhelmed with joy, hope, and opportunity.
Hello I decided to pursue a career in violin making because I was drawn to the tradition. To the idea of passing on a craft to your family. And in a way I decided to become a violin maker due to the sense of community it provides us.
My Grand Uncle passed on two instruments to me that he had inherited from his mother. These violins were very beat up and I desired to return them to functionality. I wanted to pass them along one day. While looking for ways to fix them I came across violin making and I fell in love with it. Not only could I fix these instruments myself, I could pass on the art itself. So I applied to attend the VMSA with my family's support and have been attending for the last year and a half. I have not yet restored these instruments but it will be a part of my journey to honoring this tradition.
My family's support has been the only thing keeping me going in school. They have supported me through my highs and lows. Allowing me a feeling of peace in an otherwise tumultuous journey. Having become such a part of me and my instruments I don't know what I could have done without them. But it hasn't just been my family that has supported my journey. My teachers are a constant backbone. They have taught me how to think of the ways in which a part can be saved when I wallow in despair. Classmates help to reinforce my and each other's knowledge base. Supporting each other through huge wins like closing their first box or having to console someone who cut off their button. Community is felt and embraced, one that I would have never known about had I never learned about this career.
But community and family is not the only reason I have pursued violin making. When I began I struggled with patience. I made mistakes that would not have happened if I had just gone slower. So as I have been here longer I came to the development of patience. Of peace in myself. Now where there used to be frustration and speed, I can slow down enough to slip into this meditative flow like state. When I am making I am at complete equilibrium and happy.
One day I will pass on this craft and so hopefully they will as well. In a way the violin making community itself will become a part of me and my family. As this craft inspires me to become a more well rounded and patient person one day it will be passed by me. To leave a legacy is to be remembered forever and if mine is patience and hard work I couldn't be happier.
