2026 Dalcroze Scholarship Award Recipients

The Dalcroze Society of America scholarship programs aim to make teachers’ educational goals more accessible by supporting students pursuing professional certification and advanced training in Dalcroze education.

In these 2026 awards, we are thrilled to award the inagural Impact Scholarship Award as well as four Memorial Scholarship Awards. Please join us in congratulating these exceptional educators and fellow members of the Dalcroze Society of America!

Thank you to Mary Dobrea-Grindahl, chair of the scholarships task force, for guiding this year’s adjudication process.

Aya Yuasa

Dalcroze School at Lucy Moses
$2,000 Impact Scholarship Award

Aya Yuasa is a piano instructor based in Sunnyside, Queens, NY. Aya holds faculty positions at Mannes School of Music and Lucy Moses School in addition to maintaining her private studio, and serves on the board of the New York chapter of the Dalcroze Society of America.

Dylan Griffith

Dalcroze School of Music and Movement
$500 Memorial Scholarship Award

Dylan Griffith is a classically trained multi-instrumentalist, composer, performer, and music educator. She currently serves at Lane College as an assistant professor of music and collaborative pianist and is working towards her MM-DMA at the University of Memphis. In 2024, she began her formal journey with the Dalcroze method, a methodology that has helped both her and her students deepen their understanding of and find joyfulness in music. She currently studies under Dr. Jeremy Dittus at the Dalcroze School of Music and Movement pursuing her Level 2A towards professional Dalcroze Certification.

Rebecca Hample

Marta Sanchez Training Center at Carnegie Mellon University
$500 Memorial Scholarship Award

Rebecca Hample is a classically trained singer, Singing Voice Specialist and Movement Specialist, who has been singing, dancing, and acting on stage, and teaching voice and movement for over 30 years. She has performed and studied in Texas, Utah, California, New York, Boston and Italy She discovered Dalcroze in NYC in the mid-90’s, and it has rocked her world ever since. Rebecca currently teaches private voice, and group music and movement, and folk dancing to learners of all ages in Austin, TX.

Michelle Tagud-Jara

The Dalcroze Institute of New England
$500 Memorial Scholarship Award

Michelle Tagud-Jara is a music educator with over 11 years of teaching experience in PreK–12, including 7 years as a music subject coordinator in Manila, Philippines. Since 2025, she has taught general music in Reno, NV. She is dedicated to fostering musical literacy, creativity, and cultural awareness and is a member of the Dalcroze Society of America, the Organization of American Kodály Educators, and the Kodály Society of the Philippines.

Angela Thompson

Dalcroze School of Music and Movement
$500 Memorial Scholarship Award

Angela Thompson is a violinist and violin instructor with a bachelor’s degree in Violin Performance from the National Conservatory of Peru and extensive training in the Suzuki Method of music education. With 15+ years teaching experience, Angela is passionate about nurturing young musicians and fostering vibrant musical communities.

These scholarship awards are only possible with the generosity of our community—and thanks to this support in our recent fundraising campaign, we raised $2,575 for the Memorial Scholarship Fund.

Applications for the 2027–28 funding cycle will open in late 2026 on the scholarships webpage.