RNCM announces new pop music scholarship backed by Manon Dave and will.i.am
The RNCM today announces a full-fee scholarship to support female talent, in partnership with creative technologist Manon Dave and championed by world-renowned global music artist will.i.am.
Manon Dave and artist will.i.am, courtesy Manon Dave
The Maia Dave Scholarship is a £10,000 per year award to support a first-year female undergraduate student or person who identifies as female entering the RNCM’s groundbreaking Popular Music school with fees and study costs. The first recipient is multi-instrumentalist Lucy McKenzie, from Liverpool, whose principal instrument is bass guitar.
The grant has been established by Manon and his wife, Trusha, in loving memory of their daughter Maia. They hope the continuing fund – launched to mark the third anniversary of Maia’s passing – will ‘open the doors’ into the music industry that they dreamed of being able to open for their own daughter.
Manon boasts an award-winning career that has seen him drive innovative collaborations across industries as broad as music, automotive, education, sport, wellness, and the arts. As one of the world’s most progressive conservatoires, and the only conservatoire offering a four-year Popular Music undergraduate degree, the RNCM was the natural choice to be the European home of the new Maia Dave Scholarship. The College will be the second prestigious institution to award the annual bursary following a successful launch at the KM Music Conservatory in Chennai, India – the school founded by Oscar-winning composer A. R. Rahman (Slumdog Millionaire, 127 Hours, People Like Us, Pele).
Speaking about the new scholarship at the RNCM, Manon says: ‘It has been a long-held ambition of mine to create real opportunities in music through access to education and careers. Choosing music, or any other creative discipline, as a career choice was both inaccessible and culturally unacceptable when I was growing up, so I had to find my way into the industry through my career as an engineer and product designer.
‘My wife is a dancer, and we are both very music-centric people, so we would have liked to be able to introduce Maia to a creative career path. This is our opportunity to support somebody else’s dream and talent.’
In 2024, after collaborating with will.i.am on the development and launch of Sound Drive – the world’s first in-car software that syncs a
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driver’s music with their vehicle’s movements – Manon partnered with Middle8 co-founder Ben Charlton to fund the latest scholarship. Middle8 is an innovative product development and talent agency that aims to create new opportunities and foster the next generation of talent within the music tech industry.
Founder of AI-powered creative platform FYI and innovative education organisation i.am Angel Foundation, will.i.am commented on the importance of the Maia Dave Scholarship: ‘Manon’s passion for music and creative expression is limitless and I share his determination to remove the barriers to education and to the industry for the next generation of creative people. This is a great chance to raise up gifted musicians through education, inspiration, and opportunity. I wish the future recipients of this scholarship every success.’
The College was chosen as the home of the new scholarship after Manon collaborated on new music with RNCM alumna Lois Rae Smith. Lois, who will offer her support to the scholarship’s recipient, said: ‘As a proud graduate of RNCM and a close friend of both Manon and Trusha, I am deeply honoured to support and help facilitate this scholarship. Having personally experienced the transformative power of studying at RNCM, I know first-hand how it can help shape the creative journey of a young female artist. It’s a privilege to play a role in continuing Maia’s legacy, supporting and inspiring the next generation of musicians to pursue their own dreams.’
Manon, who has family roots in India, Africa, and the UK, is now working to establish a global foundation in Maia’s name and to offer scholarships on all five continents. He adds: ‘My ambition is to enable people who feel that education is out of reach to pursue it and the career in music they aspire to. Our purpose when walking through these doors is to hold them open for somebody else.’
8 November 2024
