WMC volunteers serve as coaches for beginning band and orchestra students in Charlottesville, especially those without access to private instrument instruction. Coaching sessions last about 40 minutes, and there are many possible time slots during school hours. If you would like to help a beginning instrument player experience the joy of making music and develop the skills and confidence to continue, contact us at info@wednesdaymusicclub.org

WMC’s annual competition honors central Virginia’s most accomplished music students. The WMC Competition is held in late January and the Winners Recital is held a few weeks after. 

Competition date: January 23, 2027
Application deadline for performance and composition categories: December 15, 2026
Application fee: $25.00
Composition support materials must be emailed no later than January 5, 2027
Winners Recital date: February 7, 2027

Applicants must be recommended by their teachers to compete. 

Competition categories are:

  Junior Camp Scholarship
  Senior Camp Scholarship
  High School Division
  Senior Division
  Composition

The following documents were for the January 2026 Competition and are shown here to provide general information about the competition.   Documents for the January 2027 competition will be posted to the website in late September/early October 2026.

ALL Applicants and teachers must read:
Competition Essentials >
Rules and Guidelines >
Application and Payment >

For students competing in the Composition category:
Composition Guidelines for Students & Teachers >

Resources:
For students competing with an accompanist:
List of Area Accompanists >
Accompanist Fee Application >

For students competing for a camp scholarship:
List of Potential Music Camps >

Address any questions to competition@wednesdaymusicclub.org
 

Scholarships for University Music Majors:

WMC awards a scholarship annually to one music major at each of the following universities:

  James Madison University
  The University of Virginia
  The Shenandoah Conservatory at Shenandoah University

Scholarship Awardees are selected by the music faculty at their university.

Scholarship recipients are the featured performers in WMC’s annual fundraising event, MUSICAL INTERLUDE, which takes place mid-January. More information > will update soon

Music Lesson Scholarships for Student Members of the Charlottesville
Symphony:

WMC supports the Charlottesville Symphony at the University of Virginia by funding a full year of private music lessons for up to four student symphony players each year. Recipients are chosen by the Symphony leadership.

• Make an immediate on-line gift here:  

OR

Mail a check to Treasurer, Wednesday Music Club, 1213 Hazel Street, Charlottesville 22902

• Make a Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD).  If you are age 70  ½ or older, you can make tax-free gifts from a traditional IRA.  If you are subject to annual RMDs (Required Minimum Distributions), a QCD can satisfy some or all of your RMD obligation up to the annual QCD limit.  

• Donate appreciated securities.  Donating long-term appreciated securities can avoid capital gains tax and provide an income tax deduction for the full fair market value (up to 30% of AGI, with a five-year carryforward).  

• Create a Named Fund to generate long term support for a WMC program.  For additional information, please contact WMC at the following address  info@wednesdaymusicclub.org.

• Leave a lasting legacy – include WMC in your will or living trust.  You can also name Wednesday Music Club as the beneficiary or co-beneficiary of an IRA or life insurance policy. 

Please work with your financial advisor to learn more about the specific benefits and the process associated with each of these  giving options.  If you are comfortable notifying us that you have made a planned gift to WMC, we would be pleased to recognize your gift now in our monthly newsletter to members and in our annual Yearbook.

Wednesday Music Club is a 501(c)(3) not-for-profit organization.  EIN # 54-1137611.
 

As an all-volunteer organization, many hands sustain WMC’s initiatives, fostering musical growth for youth and adults. WMC volunteers support music education and make new friendships.

Check out volunteer opportunities here >

Contact us at info@wednesdaymusicclub for more information >

Since 1959, WMC’s annual competition has provided recognition, cash prizes, and music camp scholarships to over 370 of central Virginia’s most accomplished music students. 

For more than 50 years, WMC has provided tuition assistance for private music lessons for qualifying families.

For almost 60 years, WMC has sponsored community recitals for students – youth and adults.

In 2016 WMC extended its support for music education to public-school music programs.  WMC has awarded over $136,000 in total to over 30 elementary, middle and high schools in the region.

Beginning in 2017, WMC volunteers have devoted hundreds of hours to weekly coaching sessions with beginning band and orchestra students in the city of  Charlottesville.

Since 2015-16, WMC has provided 30 scholarships to 23 music majors at three Virginia universities .  Scholarship awardees are the featured performers in WMC’s January MUSICAL INTERLUDE fundraising event.

Since 2015-16, WMC has covered the full cost of a year of private instrument lessons for up to four university student members of the Charlottesville Symphony.

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