Established in 1997 by Yoko Ono, this scholarship program honors the memory of one of the preeminent songwriters of the 20th century, John Lennon. Lennon’s enormous creative legacy includes such songs as, “I Want To Hold Your Hand,” “Strawberry Fields,” “Imagine,” “I Am the Walrus,” “All You Need Is Love,” and “Come Together” and continues to inspire and uplift new generations of music lovers around the world. More than $300,000 in scholarships have been awarded over the past thirteen years.
The 2012 John Lennon Scholarship competition is open only to U.S. college students between the ages of 17 and 24. Three scholarships with prizes totaling $20,000 will be awarded to the best original songs submitted to the competition.
A Songwriting Scholarship Competition
Honoring the Memory of John Lennon
The 2012 John Lennon Scholarship competition is open to applicants who have reached their 17th birthday as of 13 April 2012 and are less than 25 years of age as of that date. Anyone who enters, may submit only one song to the competition.
The submitted work must be an original song with lyrics accompanied by whatever instrumentation is chosen by the applicant. Both lyrics and music must be original and not based on any prior work. Also, no rights to the submitted work may have been assigned to a major music publisher or to a major record label.
The entry may be submitted either by mail or by email.
Former winners of the John Lennon Scholarship Award are not eligible to enter the 2012 competition, but songwriters who have previously received an Honorable Mention in the competition may enter the 2012 competition.
Three scholarship awards will be available for the 2012 competition, one for $10,000 and two for $5,000.
The 2012 application form is available through the official website.