Larry Worster Music Endowed Scholarship

Purpose:
The Fund exists to provide scholarships to undergraduate students who are actively pursuing scholarly research in the fields of Musicology or Ethnomusicology within the University’s Department of Music. Applicants must demonstrate a strong commitment to research and a clear focus on advancing knowledge in these disciplines. The scholarship aims to support and encourage innovative contributions to the study of music and culture.

Dr. Larry Worster began his musical life at age 14, picking up a guitar and learning to play by ear. He spent the next two decades performing in popular and traditional styles of American Music. He began his teaching career as a guitar instructor at the Swallow Hill School of Music and the University of Colorado at Boulder Extended Studies Program. After becoming convinced that teaching music was his calling in life, he enrolled in CU-Boulder, initially studying classical guitar before turning to musicology for his graduate degrees. It was here that he met the man who would become his lifelong mentor, Dr. William Kearns. From Bill, he learned that one must ceaselessly strive to discover the unknown, to use the tools of research to uncover knowledge that leads to better understandings. Dr. Worster served on the faculty at MSU Denver from 1988 until his retirement in 2014, teaching music literature, history, and senior project classes. He decided to start this scholarship out of a special respect for the student body at MSU Denver, having returned to college in his late 30s and completed his music degrees while working and raising his family. It is his desire to inspire future generations of students to use research to unlock mysteries and empower their own lives through their quest.

The Larry Worster Musicology & Ethnomusicology Endowed Scholarship will be available to all aspiring music majors at MSU Denver. Since its founding, the MSU Denver Department of Music has produced outstanding students in all fields of music. The scholarship is meant to be awarded to students who show outstanding potential for contributing to the advancement of the art or study of music, either academically as scholars or as performers during their undergraduate studies.

Criteria:
The scholarship recipient shall:
• Be meeting the University’s Satisfactory Academic Progress (SAP) requirements and cannot be in default or owe any refund/repayment of federal, state or institutional aid.
• Have financial need as determined by FAFSA/CASFA and the University’s Office of Financial Aid and Scholarships.
• Have a completed and current general scholarship application on file.
• Have a cumulative grade point average of 3.25 or higher.
• Be enrolled at least half-time (6 or more credit hours).
• Be an undergraduate student.
• Have a declared major within the University’s Department of Music.
• Be actively pursuing scholarly research in the fields of Musicology or Ethnomusicology within the University’s Department of Music by providing a 500-word writing sample on a music topic.

Preference is for the students to be enrolled in a BA degree in any music concentration.