The St. Cecilia Scholarship
INVESTING IN THE FUTURE OF SACRED MUSIC IN AMERICA
2026 St. Cecilia Scholarship Recipient
Jacob Viola
$1,000 Award
New composition: Lead, Kindly Light
2027 SCHOLARSHIP DETAILS
Angelico Sacred Music is pleased to announce our 2027 St. Cecilia Scholarship! Applicants for this $1,000 scholarship must be a Practicing Catholic pursuing a Bachelor or Masters Degree in music during the Spring 2027 semester. Please carefully review the details below:
Composition Requirements
Compositions must fulfill the following requirements:
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The principal language of the text must be English.
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The principal text of the composition may be any prayer of the Catholic Church, or any text derived from Sacred Scripture.
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The piece must be 3 to 7 minutes long.
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The piece must be a choral composition with some polyphonic elements within it. The composition may be a cappella, or it may include a piano/organ part.
Submission
Deadline
The submission deadline for this scholarship is 11:59 p.m. Pacific Time on May 15th.
The submitted compositions will be reviewed by a panel of judges (which will not include Angelico's Executive Director, Ryan Everson), and the winner of the scholarship will be publicly announced on July 1, 2027.
Please email any questions to Ryan Everson at reverson@angelicosacredmusic.com.
How to
Apply
Applicants will email a PDF file and MIDI recording of their composition to admin@angelicosacredmusic.com. Applicants must also submit verification of their Spring 2027 class schedule with a PDF or screenshot that clearly displays their name and their classes. Only one composition per applicant will be accepted. To have a blind, merit-based competition, applicants should please refrain from printing their name on the PDF of their submitted sheet music.
Angelico wishes all student composers the best of luck and a blessed experience as they create new musical art for the glory of God!
2026 St. Cecilia Scholarship Recipient
Jacob Viola
$1,000 Award · Sacred Choral Composition
New composition: Lead, Kindly Light
In 2026 we awarded the St. Cecilia Scholarship for the first time. The recipient was Jacob Viola, a college composer.
“I knew that the Lord was confirming yet again the work He has entrusted to me, that of composing music for the Church.”
Jacob Viola — 2026 St. Cecilia Scholarship Recipient
This is exactly who the scholarship was created for.
Jacob COMPOSED a new setting of Lead, Kindly Light — Cardinal Newman’s great hymn of trust in divine providence — which he SHARED with Angelico Sacred Music. He put into words something we have long believed.
“How often do parishes find a lack of music they can identify with, particularly in their own language? Providing the Church with a new setting of Lead, Kindly Light and sharing it with Angelico is a tremendous blessing and opportunity.” - Jacob Viola
Jacob will also look to pursue further degrees in music, deepening the craft he is already giving to the Church. The St. Cecilia Scholarship exists to tell composers like Jacob that their calling is worth investing in — that the Church is behind them.
To future applicants: the scholarship will not consider you if you do not submit. We hope this award becomes a bridge that connects college composers whose work might otherwise go unheard.
