Music Center Spotlight Awards

Scholarship Value: $5,000

Awards Available: 20

Award Deadline: Register to View


Thank you for your interest in applying to Spotlight! The Spotlight competition provides cash scholarships and artistic development to empower high school students by emphasizing preparation, courage, critical thinking and perseverance while providing an invaluable opportunity for students to hone their performing skills! Southern California High School students of ALL skill levels are encouraged to apply for FREE. $100,000 in cash scholarships are awarded each year to students along with personalized feedback, eligibility for mastery classes with world-renowned artists, and more! We are part competition, part education and always fun! It's easy to apply; fill out an application and upload a video!

Spotlight Merit, Semifinalist and Honorable Mention awardees from 2024 will"automatically bypass Preliminary 1 and advance to Preliminary 2 auditions. Merit Awardees must still submit a video for written evaluation.  All must still fill out a new Spotlight application. Semifinalist and Honorable Mentions must upload the 2025 Placeholder Video that we send to them.

During the registration process, please use student's name and not a parent's/guardian's.

To Apply, You Must:

  • Be a Southern California high school student who attends a public, private, online, or home school. Your home base must be in one of these counties: Los Angeles, Orange, Ventura, Santa Barbara, San Diego, Riverside, Kern, or San Bernardino.
  • You must be an enrolled high school student as of December 31, 2024.  You may not be enrolled as a full-time college student.
  • Students who advance to the Grand Prize Finals must be available for the full day/night Grand Finale schedule.
  • Dance and Ballet students, please check the category rules page for out-of-state residency exceptions.
  • Apply to one or more of these categories: Acting, Ballet, Dance, Classical Voice, Non-Classical Voice, Classical Instrumental, or Contemporary Instrumental. You can apply to as many categories as you want!
  • Read all the important information listed in the application, even though it’s the last thing you want to do. Think of it as a way to get ready for your college and competition auditions!!
  • Complete the online application by October 14, 2024. Don’t wait until the last minute!
  • Prepare and upload your audition video. Check out our video on filming a great audition!  
  • Your parent/guardian must consent to your participation

By applying to Spotlight you are eligible for*

  • Written feedback from our distinguished panel of judges
  • Mastery classes with world-renowned artists
  • Live audition experience and coaching
  • Grand Prize Finale performance
  • College and career preparation
  • Cash awards
  • School achievement recognition
  • News and social media coverage possibilities
View Scholarship

Niche $50,000 Scholarship

Deadline: Dec 31, 2024
$50,000
Covering the cost of college expenses for four years without writing a single essay? Sounds too good to be true.It isn't with Niche. We are giving one student $50,000 (our biggest scholarship yet) to help pay for tuition, living expenses, books, and other educational expenses.Who Can ApplyAll high school and college students, as well as anyone looking to attend college...

Be Bold Scholarship

Deadline: Jan 01, 2025
$25,000
The "Be Bold" Scholarship is a no-essay scholarship that will be awarded to the applicant with the boldest profile. It takes less than 2 minutes to apply.To us, boldest does not mean "best", or "most accomplished". Being bold means being:EarnestDeterminedMovingThe scholarship will be awarded to the student whose profile is most bold, according to these characteristics.Furthermore, the scholarship will be...

ScholarshipOwl No Essay Scholarship

Deadline: Dec 29, 2024
$1,000
ScholarshipOwl is your source of relief from the dreaded application process. We put students on the fast-track to success by providing direct access to the scholarships they need the most. Take the hassle out of financial aid and maximize your chance at a free ride in college. No matter how much funding you need for school, we have the opportunities...

$3,500
The Christian Connector offers various scholarship drawings for Christian colleges. All of the information services provided by The Christian Connector are offered absolutely free!Eligibility:Students applying to the Christian Connector Scholarship must be current high school students (Class of 2025, 2026, or 2027) interested in attending a Christian university or college.About:The Christian Connector offers a "one-stop-shop" for receiving free information from...

No Essay Scholarship by Sallie

Deadline: Dec 31, 2024
$2,000
The $2,000 No Essay Scholarship by Sallie is only open to legal residents of the 50 United States, the District of Columbia and any US Territory age 17 or older at the time of entry, and who meet one (1) of the four (4) following eligibility requirements at the time of entry:A parent who currently has a child enrolled in...

Winter Wonderland Scholarship

Deadline: Dec 31, 2024
$2,000
Since 1995, our mission has been to help connect students with the right schools for them. Carnegie Dartlet, the organization that houses CollegeXpress, is an educational publisher and higher education marketing agency. Every year, thousands of students across the United States and around the world discover their colleges using our websites, magazines, and services.To be eligible for the Scholarship you:A)...

The Future is Now Scholarship

Deadline: Dec 31, 2024
$1,001
The Lenny Scholarship offers $1,001 US to support young individuals aged 16 and above, enrolled in college and residing in the US or India. Automatic disqualification may occur for multiple applications.EligibilityYou must be a resident of the US or IndiaYou must be 16 years of age or olderYou must be enrolled in a college

$10,000
The Scholarships360 $10,000 “No Essay” Scholarship is open to all students who want some extra help paying for their education. Whether you are a high school student who hopes to go to college, a graduate student who’s in a master’s program, or an adult learner who wants to return to school, you are eligible for our no essay scholarship.This scholarship...

Appily Easy Money Scholarship

Deadline: Dec 31, 2024
$1,000
The Appily scholarship application is fast and easy.Scholarship Eligibility: This scholarship is open to high school sophomores, juniors, and first semester senior students for all majors and schools. We will judge this scholarship based on other criteria such as volunteer work, extracurricular activities, special circumstances, etc.About the sponsors of the scholarship (EAB and Appily):EAB is the market leader in helping colleges...

Mindscape Big Picture Scholarship

Deadline: Dec 31, 2024
$10,000
The universe is extraordinarily complex, but it is also understandable. It is crucially important that we support young people who are passionate about working to understand it better.Sean Carroll is a physicist, philosopher, and host of the Mindscape podcast. Mindscape is dedicated to the idea that the quest to understand our world, from a wide variety of angles, is one...