Birmingham AGO Online

Scholarship Awards

BirminghamAGO offers three competitive scholarship awards.

  • The Minnie McNeil Carr Organ Award is offered to high school students.
  • The Myrtle Jones Steele Organ Award is offered to college level students.
  • The Warren Hutton Pipe Organ Encounter Scholarship Award is available to a student 13-18 years who is a resident of the Southeast Region of the AGO.

The Minnie McNeill Carr Competition was previously held in March each year. This document (Guidelines) has complete information about the 2020 scholarship competition, the last year a public competition was held. Information about age limits, repertoire requirements, application deadline, and registration fee is there. A new description and application form will be posted and announced on the home page of this web site in January 2023.

Similarly this document (Steele Guidelines) has information about the Myrtle Jones Steele Competition of 2020. The next competition will also be held in March 2023, and a new Guidelines and application form posted in January.

The Birmingham Chapter of the American Guild of Organists is pleased to continue the Warren Hutton Pipe Organ Encounter Scholarship. This annual scholarship is in memory of Warren Hutton, Professor of Organ at the University of Alabama for more than 40 years. Mr. Hutton was also active in the AGO, serving as a past Dean of the Birmingham Chapter, our Regional Councillor, and holder of several positions on the National Council. This scholarship is applied to the tuition to an AGO-sponsored Pipe Organ Encounter or Pipe Organ Encounter Advanced.

  • Eligibility: The Warren Hutton POE Scholarship will be made available to qualified students who apply to and are accepted by any POE or POEA sponsored by the AGO. (To attend a POE, basic keyboard proficiency is required but previous organ study is not necessary.) Applicants ages 13-18 must be residents of one of the states comprising the Southeast region and have the support of an AGO Chapter in the Southeast region.
  • Criteria for awarding the scholarship: In making the award, the Competition and Scholarship Committee of the Birmingham Chapter will consider recommendations from the applicant’s keyboard teacher and the Dean of the AGO Chapter that supports the application, as well as a personal statement from the applicant describing his or her interest in the organ.

Details about the availability of this award will be posted in January 2023.