The Scholarship, established in 2010, is named in honour of the late Billy Thorpe, a great Australian rock musician and the frontman of Billy Thorpe and the Aztecs.
Billy spent his formative years in Brisbane and made an enormous contribution to the Australian and global music industry over five decades of performing, writing and producing.
Applications for the 2021 Billy Thorpe Scholarship are closed and the winner will be announced at the 2021 Queensland Music Awards.
Read the 2021 guidelines HERE.
Applicants must:
• Be an emerging musician or band (see guidelines)
• Be at least 18 years of age on 1 January 2021
• Be an Australian citizen or permanent resident
• Have resided in Queensland for at least two years prior to the due date of applications
• Have satisfied the reporting requirements of any previous Arts Queensland grants
• Have an ABN
QMusic is currently not able to offer a feedback service for Billy Thorpe Scholarship. Unfortunately, the scope and diversity of applications means that it’s not practical or fair for the assessment panel to provide feedback on individual applications. The application form will guide you through how to best answer questions relevant to your application.
If you have any questions regarding the Billy Thorpe Scholarship please check the guidelines. For any other questions please contact QMusic at info@qmusic.com.au (07) 3257 0013.
"Winning the Billy Thorpe Scholarship allowed me the opportunity to work with amazing producers and people I never would have had access to normally. The advice I received from Chugg Entertainment was hugely enlightening and helped me to clearly define my own path to success in the music industry. Overall the Scholarship helped me turbo boost this stage in my career, and gave me the resources to produce the best music I’ve ever made."
Harry Phillips
2020 Scholarship Winner
Brisbane-based singer-songwriter Harry Phillips received the Billy Thorpe Scholarship at the Queensland Music Awards in 2020, so far using the Scholarship to write and record two songs for his upcoming EP as well as planning for the next stages of his professional career.
Photo by Aimee Catt Photography.
“Feeling very humbled, overwhelmed and grateful, receiving the QMusic Billy Thorpe Scholarship...Thanks to the judges who made the tough choice.”
Pool Shop
2019 Scholarship Winner
"Being the recipient of the 2018 Billy Thorpe Scholarship has allowed me to create & soon release new music I otherwise would have been struggling to afford and manage to do successfully. It gave me confidence and reassurance that my art is important and appreciated by industry professionals and listeners alike."
Greta Stanley
2018 Scholarship Winner
"I won the Billy Thorpe Scholarship when we first started and literally bought my first guitar with the money. I’d been borrowing guitars from friends, so that was something special. Opportunities like that don’t come around so often, and it’s a beautiful thing that it came from my local community".
Sam Hales (The Jungle Giants)
2011 Scholarship Winner
