Honoring Barbara Thornton (1950-1998)
The $4,000 Barbara Thornton Memorial Scholarship is given to an outstanding and highly motivated (and possibly unconventional) young performer of medieval music who seeks to widen their experience through more advanced study and/or auditions in Europe.
The scholarship winner is chosen by a jury of musicians who knew or worked with the great medieval music specialist and teacher, Barbara Thornton (1950-1998), who went to Europe from New York in 1970 to study early music. She later co-founded the medieval music ensemble Sequentia with Benjamin Bagby in 1977.
To make a donation to the Thornton Memorial Scholarship Fund, visit our Named Scholarship Funds donation page and designate the Thornton fund in the appropriate field.
2025 Recipient: Leah Weitzner
Leah Weitzner is a soprano, gambist, and researcher. She graduated from McGill University in 2021 with a B.Mus. in Early Music Vocal Performance and recently completed an M.A. in Musicology at McGill, under the supervision of Professor Julie E. Cumming. Her thesis explores poet-improvisation through the anonymous musical settings of Serafino Aquilano’s strambotti.
Leah is passionate about engaging with historical and contemporary thought—and human experience—through interdisciplinary collaboration, woven into sound and story. She is a co-founder of the medieval trio Ensemble Ursa Major and the vocal trio Ensemble Increatum, and she collaborates frequently in Montréal with early and contemporary music ensembles including Ensemble Scholastica, Ensemble Alkemia, COMTESSA, and the Studio de musique ancienne de Montréal.
“The Barbara Thornton Memorial Scholarship will provide me with the opportunity to attend medieval music workshops in Europe and gain invaluable experience learning, exploring, and creating alongside passionate performers of this repertoire. I’m excited to engage with both the performance and historical contexts of medieval music while being in the land of its origin. I look forward to the musical growth this award will make possible!” – Leah Weitzner
Past Recipients
2023: Isabelle Douailly-Backman
2021: Anna O’Connell
2019: Karin Weston
2017: Allison Monroe
2015: Mara Winter
2013: Isabella Shaw
2011: Laura Osterlund
2008: Emily Eagen
2006: Mary E. Larew
2004: Wolodymyr Smishkewych
2001: Moira Smiley
Questions may be sent to EMA at specialprojects@earlymusicamerica.org
The 2025 application is now closed. The application for 2027 will be available in Fall 2026.
