The John Jesensky Music Scholarship: Opening Doors for Aspiring Hollywood Musicians

Economic diversity on campus is sharply declining in the United States. In study after study, there is evidence of a troubling trend emerging in which access to higher education is increasingly determined by income rather than achievement. California, even with its reputation as a champion of economic diversity across its many elite university campuses throughout the state, is not immune to the trend currently afflicting the entire country: According to the New York Times, the University of California, San Diego, saw its share of freshmen receiving Pell grants drop an astonishing 20 percentage points, from 46 percent to 26 percent, in just five years.

After learning of this troubling trend taking hold of his home state of California, John Jesensky, a composer, orchestrator, and conductor well known by members of the Hollywood film and music communities, decided to take action in support of aspiring musicians seeking an opportunity at an institution of higher learning by founding the John Jesensky Music Scholarship. Open to students majoring in music or visual/performing arts and currently enrolled in or accepted to an accredited four-year college/university, junior college, or vocational school, the scholarship represents just one of the many ways in which Jesensky hopes to open doors for the next generation of aspiring musicians.

Aspiring students hoping to take advantage of the financial support made available through this scholarship opportunity will be asked to answer a question -- via a brief essay of at least 500 words -- they are quite likely to have already considered with great depth: “What kind of impact does music really make on society?” In addition to offering a thoughtful response to the essay question, eligible students must also complete and submit the brief form found on the scholarship website.

In making the $1,000-scholarship available on an annual basis to aspiring music and visual/performing arts students, Jesensky intends to accomplish a great deal more beyond providing the direct financial support granted to a worthy student pursuing the loftiest of academic goals.

According to the longtime Hollywood composer, orchestrator, and conductor, it is his long-term goal to raise awareness of the diminishing accessibility to higher education based on nothing more than income. The erosion of meritocracy, especially within the California higher education system, is a troubling development that should concern us all, and, as Jesensky has pointed out, it is certainly one that is worthy of devoting a great deal of attention and energy in order to identify and address the issues at the root of this ongoing trend.