For undergraduates majoring in music education or a music performance degree involving bowed instruments (it is Strings Magazine, after all), these scholarships can yield up to $3,000. Winners are chosen based on financial need, merit and community service. Stringsmagazine.com has the details and application.
NFAA awards carry a hefty dollar amount--up to $10,000. There are presidential scholarships in music/instrumental and voice categories, as well as regional scholarships. Another plus to applying for an NFAA award--your name is entered on a list that colleges can use to help screen students and award even more scholarships. Go to NFAA.org for more information and application details.
Some grants and scholarships are designed specifically for those from a particular area. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame Scholarship awards a total of $50,000 to high school seniors from New York City and Cleveland public schools for music and music business studies. Connecticut music performance majors can apply for the Stamford Symphony Orchestra Instrumental Scholarship, with prizes from $500 to $20,000.
Call or check the websites for your area's music performance and arts groups to see if there are any local scholarships for which you qualify. Your school's guidance counselors or your music and arts teachers may also have ideas on places to look.
For those already enrolled in a degree program, the AOSA awards grants of $500 to $2,500 to one or two students majoring in music. Students must be members of the AOSA. The association also awards other scholarships--one for training at the Orff Institute in Salzburg, Austria, for example--and has funds set up for those involved in music education. AOSA.org lists all the organization's scholarships, funds and grants.
Like AOSA, many professional organizations will offer access to grants and scholarships exclusively to their members. Start your search early, and if you find any organization that has scholarships that interest you, don't hesitate to sign up. You may have to pay a small membership fee, but the entry pool for those scholarships will be much smaller than those that anyone can apply for--which means you have a better chance of winning.
Additionally, your membership fee will give you access to the network of professionals that belong to that organization, which is an invaluable resource.