Music Scholarship

Profile: Amy Bastow

My name is Amy and I grew up and went to school in the small country community of Gilgandra. Ever since I was young, I had a keen interest in music and started playing piano and composing. I had dreams of studying at the Sydney Conservatorium of Music but had many obstacles to overcome. My school had no piano and did not offer music as a HSC subject. As a pre-requisite for the Conservatorium I had no choice but to study it through Distance Education.

After I finished Year 12, I applied to the Conservatorium and was accepted into the Bachelor of Music degree to study composition. However, as I lived nearly 600km away from Sydney and with financial restraints on the family, my dream of studying music was looking dim. Not only would uni fees and textbooks be expensive, I also had to find a place to live. My other dream was to be able to live at The Women’s College on the University of Sydney campus and be amongst a community of academic and cultural inspiration. This also seemed an impossible dream. The Women’s College offers many scholarships each year to new students so I decided to apply. I was so thrilled to be granted the Music Scholarship and because of this, was able to follow my dreams.

I am currently in my third year at the Conservatorium and have enjoyed every minute of living at The Women’s College. I have met so many amazing and inspiring people and have had so many musical opportunities presented to me. I am so grateful to the people who have given me the opportunity, through this scholarship; to live a life I thought would never have been possible.

Back to main Scholarships page