Summer Organ Lesson Scholarship Program

One of the most successful endeavors of the Denver Rocky Mountain Chapter has been its commitment to the Summer Organ Lesson Scholarship Program. For more than two decades, promising piano students have been awarded scholarships for six free organ lessons with qualified chapter members during the summer, with the opportunity to perform at the September chapter meeting. For the 2025 application form, click here.

The schedule for this year’s program is as follows:
APPLICATIONS DUE: Midnight, Monday, April 30, 2025
Submit by e-mail to Scholarship Coordinator Billie Busby Smith, or by U.S. mail to

330 N. Humboldt St., Denver, CO 80218
AUDITIONS: 10 a.m.-3 p.m., Saturday, May 17, 2025

ORIENTATION: Mandatory for all recipients

INSTRUCTION: June-August 2025
Dates and locations for six organ lessons to be arranged with assigned teacher
FINAL PUBLIC RECITAL: 4 p.m., Sunday, Sept. 7, 2025 (mandatory for all recipients)

Any keyboard student age 13-18 on Aug. 15, 2025, is eligible to apply, except that previous scholarship winners are not allowed to reapply. Scholarships will not be awarded to pay for lessons from a student's current teacher.

The two-part audition will include an assessment of the student’s keyboard skills (two prepared piano pieces, one of which must be a two-part invention by Johann Sebastian Bach, a short sight-reading exercise, and two-octave major and minor scales in the keys of the audition pieces) and a brief interview to discern the student’s level of interest in organ study, sincerity of purpose, and sense of vision.

All chapter members are encouraged to share this information with their students or colleagues who teach piano. For a promotional flyer, click here. Chapter members are needed to assist with every aspect of the program. If you have an interest in serving as an audition judge, helping with the orientation session, teaching summer organ lessons, or assisting with the final recital, please contact Billie Busby Smith for more information.