Music doesn’t always announce itself. Sometimes it arrives quietly – in a practice room, a playlist, a moment when nothing else is working. For the 2026 recipients of Music Workshop’s Inspire Scholarship, music was exactly that: a lifeline.
This year, Music Workshop awarded two $1,500 scholarships and three $500 scholarships to students representing Beaverton, Sunset, Lincoln, Southridge, and Mountainside high schools. Recipients were selected based on their responses to the prompt: “Please share the impact and inspiration music has had on your life, mental health, and/or education.”
The essays we received were extraordinary. One recipient wrote about standing in a courtroom to testify against a parent – and crediting music as the reason they survived it. Another described music not as a dramatic rescue, but as something quieter and just as powerful: “Music did not save my life all at once. It brought me back in pieces.”
These are not essays about performance or ambition. They are about resilience. About the kind of hope that rebuilds itself slowly, note by note. That’s what the Inspire Scholarship exists to honor – and to help carry forward.
The scholarship is made possible through the generosity of donors who believe music education belongs to every student, not just those with access and resources. If you’d like to help us reach more students like these, a gift to Music Workshop by June 30 makes a direct difference. Everything we offer – curriculum, professional development, resources – remains completely free because of people like you.