Richard Pollett Prize
- Enrolment status
- Current UQ student
- Student type
- Domestic, International
- Study level
- Undergraduate, Honours
- Study area
- Arts, humanities and social sciences
- Scholarship focus
- Creative excellence
- Scholarship value
- money equal to the annual income from the fund
- Scholarship duration
- 1 year
- Number awarded
- 1
Eligibility
You are eligible to apply if you:
- are enrolled in the Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Music (Honours) or a dual program that includes the Bachelor of Music or Bachelor of Music (Honours)
- are available to perform at the annual competition.
How to apply
Apply via the online application form. You must provide your personal details and details of the works you propose to perform.
Use our tips for putting together a great application to help you through this process.
Selection criteria
Eligible applicants will be invited to perform at the competition where the student with the most outstanding performance on an orchestral stringed instrument with a bow will receive the prize.
What happens next
We'll acknowledge your application via email. If you haven't received an email within 2 days of applying, please email music@uq.edu.au.
We'll provide more details of the competition by email after assessing your eligibility.
About this scholarship
Richard Pollett’s diverse passions were driven by a deep understanding "of the essence of things: colour in music, depth in literature, poetry and visual art, texture in food, the wind in his hair, the sea, silence, reflection". He was dedicated to life itself, with music just one avenue for him to explore the world around him in all its beauty, subtlety, grandeur, and complexity. Though his calling drew him numerous prizes and awards his compassion, generosity, and modesty shone through more prominently than any performance ever could. In 2011, at the age of 25, he was engaged by the Queensland Symphony Orchestra to play as a soloist. A month before the concert he was killed in a road crash while cycling.
The Richard Pollett Prize exists to inspire others by his memory, to connect with the deep emotional and intellectual experience of his world. The innumerable letters from young musicians received after his untimely passing are only a narrow window into the powerful effect he had on his community, be it Melbourne, Zurich, Tel Aviv, or here in Brisbane. His legacy lives on in the lives he touched, the music he performed, and the scholars who carry on his craft. The prize has been established in his memory and is maintained by an annual donation from his parents, Professors Philip and Patricia Pollett. More information about Richard is available at his memorial website.