Scholarships
Musicians In Action, Inc. (MIA)
Scholarship Foundation
The Musicians In Action, Inc. (MIA) Scholarship Foundation offers multiple scholarship awards annually. The scholarships serve MIA’s mission and put resources into community organizations, encourage churches, and empower deserving students through music to achieve their goals and dreams.
Musicians In Action Scholarships honor the legacy of three outstanding individuals whose lives have made a dynamic impact in music and the arts. The Victor McElhaney Scholarship, Honorable Mark Ridley-Thomas Scholarship, and the Harvey Mason Performing Arts Scholarship Award.
The Victor McElhaney Scholarship
Victor McElhaney – was a 21-years old, promising Thornton School of Music student at the University of Southern California. “He was an extraordinarily talented drummer, striving to make a social impact and he was a bright light. He was someone I was expecting to hear a lot of music from in the future,” said USC Jazz professor, Peter Erskine, who gave the young man private lessons for a year. “He was a musician who drew his inspiration from the beat, soul, and sound of the Town; and he belonged in every nook and cranny of Oakland” said his mother, Oakland Councilwoman, Lynette Gibson McElhaney. “He didn’t think about himself. He always thought about others first. He was just an all-around great young man. He was a very talented musician; and he didn’t mind sharing the talent he had with other young people,” said Oakland Councilman, Larry Reid.
He transferred to USC from Cal State East Bay in the fall of 2017. The Jazz-Studies Major Senior was an active member of USC’s Center for Black Cultural and Student Affairs. As an innocent by-stander, Victor’s life and his promising future was tragically taken from us by gun crossfire in a store robbery attempt near USC in 2019. Victor’s legacy lives on in the Victor McElhaney Scholarship Award and is given to a deserving student that is majoring in drums and percussion or is a vetted drummer.
Harvey Mason Performing Arts Scholarship
Harvey Mason – Within the pantheon of all-around percussion masters in the disciplines of music – recorded and performed – Rhythm Master only begins to define Harvey Mason’s prodigious gifts once composer, arranger, and educator are factored into the mix. The breadth of his creativity as an artist with albums as a leader showcasing his skills in pre and postproduction has also been internationally acclaimed. The multiple Grammy-nominated man known as “The Mase” has proven himself invaluable from jazz combos to recording studios to motion picture sound stages to symphony orchestras, sharing his gifts at the service of an enviable resume of world-renown entertainers and recording artist ranging from Frank Sinatra to Beyonce’.
In May 2017, Mason achieved what he considers to be the culmination of his classical studies playing 2nd tympani on Holst’s Planets of the London Symphony at the Barbican Center. Harvey is also a founding member of the all-star contemporary jazz “super group,” Fourplay.
In 2015, the institution where Harvey began his advanced studies, the Berklee College of Music, presented him with an Honorary Doctorate degree. In May 2016, Mason received his second Honorary Doctorate, this time from West London College of Music where he also accepted an artist in residence position. Mason’s 4-point Advice for all serious musicians on the climb and grind: Be diverse; Be on time; Be able to communicate with all levels of people in an intelligent manner; Be able to get along with all manner of personalities.
The Harvey Mason Performing Arts Scholarship will provide financial assistance to high school students entering college and current undergraduate students, enabling them to develop their academic and artistic talents.
