The Jill Mack Memorial Scholarship is an annual $5000 scholarship for a woman or non-binary Saskatchewan resident to attend a Canadian recording arts school to develop professional audio engineering skills in recording and live performance. Applicants should have a desire to work in the professional music industry in Saskatchewan.
To be awarded this scholarship, the successful applicant will have to submit a full application, 2 letters of recommendation, and an essay about their musical experience, desire to learn about the music industry, and how they will use their skills to help the music community of Saskatchewan.
This scholarship will be awarded as an outright grant. Although recipients are under no obligation to make repayment, it is hoped that once graduated and engaged in a productive career, they will help honor the memory of Jill Mack by helping women/non-binary people achieve their professional music goals. More information can be found at jillmackscholarship.ca.
Applications for the scholarship opened November 1, 2023 and will remain open until January 15th, 2024. The scholarship recipient will be announced on June 1, 2024.
Who was Jill Mack?
Jill Mack was a beloved musician, recording artist, producer, and was one of only 3 woman sound technicians working in Saskatchewan at that time. She volunteered her time and skills throughout her community, sharing her expertise to Girls Rock Camps, and giving hands-on workshops in Saskatoon. In all cases, these actions brought out diverse women and non-binary people to events where she shared her professional skills to an often under-represented music community in Saskatchewan. Jill accomplished so much in her life through her workshops, sound productions, live performances, and all the albums she recorded with incredible Canadian artists. It was a dream of Jill’s to create a space in Saskatchewan where women/non-binary people could perform their arts and see themselves in the professional music community as well.
Jill was surrounded by many loved ones when, on Sunday, March 13th, she passed away after a brave battle with cancer. The wish of Jill’s colleagues, friends, and loved ones is to honour and continue her work by funding female/non-binary recording arts professionals who wish to seek professional training within Canada, just as Jill had. In a province with such a large music community, we hope the Jill Mack Memorial Scholarship for The Recording Arts can build upon the current number of female/non-binary sound technicians working here. To lose one gifted person and have it reduce our community so vastly should be something we start to change.
How to Apply?
The Jill Mack Memorial Scholarship has an online form, which can be downloaded from jillmackscholarship.ca. This form can be filled out and returned to jillmackscholarship@gmail.com with ALL required attachments listed in the Application Requirements section.
The application will be made available November 1st 2023 and the deadline for filing is January 15th 2024. Incomplete or late applications will not be considered. Your application will be reviewed by members of the Scholarship Committee and the fund holder. Selection will be based on a student’s activeness in the music community, knowledge of their musical practice, and their essay proposing how they will help the Saskatchewan music community with their new knowledge.
The successful applicant will be emailed by June 1st 2024 and will be announced on the website and our social media.
Application Requirements:
● A completed Scholarship application
● 2 Letters of reference highlighting musical ability and/or community involvement
● An essay outlining your personal experience with music, your involvement in the Saskatchewan music community, and how you will use your new audio engineering skills to support women/non-binary people in Saskatchewan’s music community.
