Dr. Christie Nigro and Carrie Ross Nigro Chorale Scholarship

Criteria: ($500 Award) The Dr. Christie Nigro Chorale Scholarship will be awarded to:
• A full-time or part-time matriculated student
• A member of the Worcester State University Chorale for at least one semester
• A student who demonstrates financial need
• A student who maintains his/her Chorale membership during the entire academic year of this award
Applicants must provide a short essay attesting to their need for this grant and the impact singing with the Chorale has had on their Worcester State experience.

When Dr. Christie Nigro came to Worcester State University in 1989, she saw the need for a high quality a cappella ensemble at the University. There were many wonderful singers who had no outlet for their talent. The newly founded Chorale had only 16 singers, but was excellent nonetheless.

More than 20 years later, the Chorale is nearly twice its original size, has placed in national competition, and has toured Europe and South America numerous times since 1993. In 2009, the Chorale celebrated its 20-year anniversary with a reunion concert of more than 100 past and present singers. To commemorate the past years and look forward to the future of music at Worcester State, Dr. Nigro has establishing this scholarship to assist a deserving member of the Worcester State University Chorale.

Dr. Nigro has established a reputation as both a fine choral conductor and performing cellist and teacher in the Central Massachusetts area. She is a full professor at Worcester State, where she directs the choirs, directs the applied music program, and teaches classes in music literature such as Women in Music and Twentieth-Century Music. Dr. Nigro holds degrees from Syracuse University, Yale University, and the University of Massachusetts at Amherst. She is also the mother of four terrific children.