Musical Merit Foundation

Home
United States
San Diego, CA
Musical Merit Foundation

Contact information, map and directions, contact form, opening hours, services, ratings, photos, videos and announcements from Musical Merit Foundation, Nonprofit Organization, San Diego, CA.

The Musical Merit Foundation hosts annual Scholarship Auditions awarding over $100,000 to young musicians from San Diego and Imperial counties and Baja California.

08/31/2026

Mark your calendars! ✏️📆 The dates for our next round of scholarship auditions are officially here!

07/08/2026

Come see one of this year’s protégés, Stephanie Smith (Stephanie Smith), perform a concerto for voice & orchestra in Long Beach this weekend! 🎶

07/06/2026

🎓 Meet our new president — Arlie Langager!
Arlie has held several positions on the executive board of Musical Merit for many years, and we are excited to have her as our incoming president! 😃

A little bit about Arlie…
𝐀𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐞 𝐋𝐚𝐧𝐠𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐫 is an educator, singer, and conductor. She joined the faculty at MiraCosta College in 2008 where she conducts the choirs, serves as the chair of the music department, and teaches voice. Dr. Langager completed her doctoral studies at the University of Texas at Austin. In addition to adjudicating for choral and vocal festivals, she is an active clinician with high school and community ensembles.

After receiving her undergraduate degree in vocal performance, Dr. Langager maintained a full voice studio in the Conservatory of Music at the University of Lethbridge. She later completed graduate course work in voice pedagogy and performance at the University of Calgary, with special focus on the Kodaly method for teachers. Following further studies, she earned a Master of Music degree in Conducting and joined the faculty at the U of C. She also enjoyed the opportunity to conduct the Chamber Choir and the 100-voice University Chorus, and for nearly a decade she directed the vocal jazz program at the U of C.

07/03/2026

Wishing you all a wonderful 4th of July weekend! 🎉
How are you celebrating this year? Let us know in the comments! ⬇️

06/28/2026

Come see one of our former protégés, Jonathan Lin (Jonathan Lin), perform with his duo this coming weekend in San Diego!

06/19/2026

Today’s featured protégé is Dylan Ellis! Dylan is this year’s winner of the $7,500 prize 🎶
Check the comments for a clip of Dylan’s performance at our awards concert! ⤵️

𝐃𝐲𝐥𝐚𝐧 𝐄𝐥𝐥𝐢𝐬 is a senior at Olympian High School and started violin at age 7. He is the recipient of the John-Michael Brooks First Assistant Principal Chair of San Diego Youth Symphony. He has played at Carnegie Hall as First Place winner of the American Protege International Competition and performed at Tijuana CECUT for the World Design Capital San Diego Tijuana Festival. He is the winner of 2025 SDYS Concerto Competition, 2025 Bel Canto Young Artist Competition, and 2026 MTAC San Diego Concerto Competition. He was recently featured on NPR’s From The Top program - Daily Joy. He currently studies with Julia Pautz of the San Diego Symphony and will continue his violin studies at The Colburn Conservatory this Fall.

06/17/2026

Today’s featured protégé is Mariam Mouawad! Mariam is this year’s winner of the $8,000 prize 🎶
Check the comments for a clip of Mariam’s performance at our awards concert! ⤵️

Lebanese-American mezzo-soprano 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐢𝐚𝐦 𝐌𝐨𝐮𝐚𝐰𝐚𝐝 is currently based in San Diego. She is a winner of the LA District of the Metropolitan Opera Laffont Competition, the 2024 Marilyn Horne Song Competition, and the 2023 MTNA Young Artist Competition, and the 2022 First Place Winner of the La Jolla Symphony and Chorus Young Artist Competition.
In the 2025/26 season, she made her LA debut with Pacific Opera Project singing the role of Carlota in Zorro. She also performed Abla in the Arabic opera Antar & Abla in the United Arab Emirates and appeared as Mercédès with San Diego Opera. She has been a Resident Artist with Opera North, where she sang Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro) and The Fox (The Little Prince) and will return to perform the title role in La Cenerentola. As
a Resident Artist with Fort Worth Opera and Shreveport Opera, her roles have included Tisbe (La Cenerentola), Dorabella (Così fan tutte), Musetta (La Bohème), and Carmen (Carmen). She was also a 2024 Lehrer Vocal Institute Fellow at the Music Academy of the West, performing the title role in L’enfant et les sortilèges.
Ms. Mouawad holds a Master of Music in Vocal Performance and Vocal Pedagogy from the University of Houston.

Come see Mariam perform the title role in La Cenerentola with Opera North on June 26 at 7:30pm in Lebanon, NH!

06/15/2026

Today’s featured protégé is Nathan Haghgoo! Nathan is this year’s winner of the $8,500 prize 🎶
Check the comments for a clip of Nathan’s performance at our awards concert! ⤵️

𝐍𝐚𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐇𝐚𝐠𝐡𝐠𝐨𝐨 is a recent graduate of the University of California, Berkeley, where he studied chemistry. An accomplished flutist of 13 years, he studied under Stacey Pelinka at Berkeley, building upon his previous formative training with Elena Yarritu and September Payne. Nathan is the winner of the 2024 UC Berkeley Symphony Orchestra Concerto Competition, earning the opportunity to perform Khachaturian’s Flute Concerto (transcribed from the violin concerto) with the orchestra. A past protégé of the Musical Merit Foundation, he has performed on both flute and piccolo with the San Diego Youth Symphony and the UC Davis Symphony Orchestra, where he made his solo orchestral debut with Jacques Ibert's Flute Concerto. This upcoming fall, Nathan will begin graduate studies in chemistry at the University of Chicago.

06/12/2026

Today’s featured protégé is Bradley Carpiuc! Bradley is this year’s winner of the $9,000 prize 🎶
Check the comments for a clip of Bradley’s performance at our awards concert! ⤵️

𝐁𝐫𝐚𝐝𝐥𝐞𝐲 𝐂𝐚𝐫𝐩𝐢𝐮𝐜 is acclaimed for his versatility as a soloist, chamber musician, as well as a collaborative and orchestral pianist. Bradley has earned awards in over two dozen regional, state, national, and international piano and composition competitions. Bradley has had the opportunity to perform as a soloist at Carnegie Hall and the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and has performed concerti with five different Southern California orchestras. Beyond performance, Bradley is a composer and member of the MTAC Young Composer’s Guild, mentored by Justin Weiss. Long guided by Anna Savvas for piano, he currently studies with Vanessa Fadial at The Colburn School, and will be attending Northwestern University this Fall where he will study with James Giles.

Come see Bradley perform on Saturday, June 13 at 5:00pm at the Chopin Center in Szafarnia, Poland!

06/10/2026

Today’s featured protégé is Søren Pedersen! Søren is this year’s winner of the $9,500 prize 🎶
Check the comments for a clip of Søren’s performance at our awards concert!

Baritone 𝐒ø𝐫𝐞𝐧 𝐏𝐞𝐝𝐞𝐫𝐬𝐞𝐧 graduated with his Master’s Degree in Voice Performance from the Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music (CCM). His most notable performances include: Schaunard, San Diego Opera (2024); solos in Handel’s Messiah, Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra (2025), where “his exultant, ‘The Trumpet Shall Sound’...was a joy to behold”; and Court Poet, Sleepers’ Awake, Opera Philadelphia (cover, 2026). Additionally, his most distinguished awards are: 1st place, District Level, Laffont Competition (2024 & 26); Erin Wall Prize, Centre Stage Ensemble Studio (2025); and Richard Lauf Memorial Award, Corbett Competition, CCM (2025). At CCM, he has performed Tarquinius, Demetrius, Rappaccini, and Le Mari. He returns to Wolf Trap this summer where he will cover Alidoro (Cenerentola) and the title role in Eugene Onegin, and perform Sciarrone (Tosca).

Come see Søren perform as Sciarrone with Wolf Trap Opera in their production of Tosca on August 7 at 8pm at the Filene Center in Virginia!

Address

San Diego, CA

Telephone

+16197524741

Website

http://www.musicalmerit.org/

Alerts

Be the first to know and let us send you an email when Musical Merit Foundation posts news and promotions. Your email address will not be used for any other purpose, and you can unsubscribe at any time.

Contact The Organization

Send a message to Musical Merit Foundation:

Featured

Water4Life Ministry
PO Box 23361

Want your organization to be the top-listed Non Profit Organization in San Diego?