Ways to Support Music

Thanks for Your Interest in Supporting Music

Thanks for your interest in supporting the NCCU Department of Music. Please view a message from the interim chair, Dr. Lenora Helm Hammonds.

View Message

Learn About the Music Department

The Department of Music at North Carolina Central University is dedicated to preparing students, through innovative teaching methods, individual attention and excellent facilities, to excel as leaders in the music professions. Our undergraduate and graduate programs are designed to cultivate complete musicians, able to think critically, compete in the professional marketplace and creatively enrich a wide spectrum of artistic and educational environments. We strive to help our students embrace technology and comprehend the evolving roles of music in society. We also seek to promote greater understanding of the history and traditions of American music and the rich diversity of all world music.

Learn about Music

Make a Gift Online

Each day, generous alumni and friends help provide life-changing scholarships and enhance programs in the Department of Music, including Jazz Studies, an NCCU area of distinction. Search for one of these funds from the online giving portal.

Make a Gift to Music

Music Department
Band Scholarship
Choir Fund
Concert and Marching Band Fund
Dr. Ira and Joyce Wiggins Endowed Scholarship
- Awarded annually to an outstanding undergraduate student in the field of Jazz Studies. This award honors Dr. Wiggins and his outstanding work as a professor, leader and musician’s advocate.
Jazz Curriculum Scholarship
- Join us in securing the future of the NCCU Jazz Studies program — “where jazz still swings” — with your gift today!
Jazz Ensemble Studies Fund
- Partner with our faculty to provide quality education, shape the future of aspiring musicians and maintain the integrity of a great art form.
NCCU Vocal Jazz Ensemble
NCCU Jamming with Jazz Giants Endowment Fund
- Help provide opportunities for students and faculty to meaningfully interact with some of the world’s most notable jazz musicians through a plethora of performance and educational opportunities.

Leave a Legacy

View Planned Giving Options

Music Funding Priorities

Thank you for your interest in supporting the greatest needs of the NCCU Department of Music. Our priorities include the following:

Endowed and annual scholarships to help attract the best and brightest students to the Department of Music
Naming opportunities, including the Department of Music, recital hall and classrooms
Endowed chairs and distinguished professorships to recruit, retain and recognize faculty of the highest caliber
Funding to provide students with professional and academic development activities
Unrestricted funding that would enable the chair to utilize the funds on an as-needed basis for scholarships, student support, etc.

Gifts of any size are greatly appreciated! Donors have five years to fund a $25,000 endowed scholarship fully. Annual scholarships can be established for a minimum gift of $10,000.

Giving Stories

Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation

Four jazz studies majors from NCCU's department of music are selected as recipients of a four-year scholarship from the Ella Fitzgerald Charitable Foundation.

Three women facing the viewer at an event

Donor Sentiments

Read the sentiments of our donors to understand why they decided to support the Music Department.

Thanks for Supporting Music!

Thank you for supporting the Department of Music! Your generosity provides transformative philanthropic support that directly impacts our students and music education for generations of Eagle students. We are sincerely grateful to our donors! Please contact Ryan Clark, Director of Development, College of Arts, Social Sciences and Humanities, at [email protected] or 919-530-7097 to learn more.