The Birmingham Music Club was founded in 1905 by a group of leading citizens and was first known as the Music Study Club, taking the name The Birmingham Music Club (BMC) in 1928. As the oldest cultural organization in operation in the Southeast, the BMC has brought great musical artists to Birmingham every year for more than a century.
A scholarship program for students in Alabama colleges and universities was established by the BMC in 1941. The Guild of the Birmingham Music Club (The Guild), originally organized in 1988 to support the BMC, administers and raises funds for the program. Incorporated in May 2011, The Guild is now a separate 501(c)(3) whose purpose is to foster the appreciation of music and the performing arts in the Birmingham community, as well as to administer and fund the annual College Music Scholarship program. Based on auditions judged by respected musicians, scholarships are awarded annually in three categories – piano, voice, and instrumentals. Composed of more than 200 members, The Guild’s prestigious scholarship program has awarded more than $600,000 over the years.
Scholarship winners have achieved both national and international acclaim. Winners include opera stars Irene Jordan, Rachel Mathes and the late Nell Rankin, as well as Dr. Drew Mays, winner of the prestigious Van Cliburn International Piano Competition. They are also highly valued as distinguished teachers of a new generation of musicians. Kim Strickland, Music Chair at the Alabama School of Fine Arts; Diane Boyd Schultz, Professor of Music at the University of Alabama; and Dawson Hull, Pastor of Instrumental Worship Arts at Germantown Baptist Church, are scholarship winners who are cultivating and shaping young talent.
In addition, many have become accomplished members of the Alabama Symphony Orchestra and the Alabama Symphony Orchestra Chorus, formerly known as the Birmingham Concert Chorale.
The Guild has also supported the BMC concert series, and is the lead sponsor for the BMC February concert at the historic Lyric Theatre.
