Harris County High School · Hamilton, Georgia
A scholarship for the student who can't imagine life without music.
The Matt Johnson Music Scholarship is awarded each year to graduating Harris County High School seniors and former HCHS students who are pursuing music education or continuing their own musical path — in a college program, a conservatory, a church, a garage band, or a classroom of their own someday.
It honors Matt Johnson, a Harris County kid who became an Atlanta singer-songwriter and a music teacher — and who spent his life giving other people the confidence to play.
Who it's for
Graduating Harris County High School seniors and former HCHS students with a real commitment to music — whether that means majoring in music education or simply refusing to put the instrument down. You don't have to be first chair. You have to mean it.
How it works
Applicants submit a recording of themselves playing and two short essays. Matt's family, friends, and former bandmates read and listen to every submission, and the award is presented at the end of the school year.
Eligibility and requirementsWho runs it
Matt's family, friends, and former bandmates, who volunteer their time. The scholarship is a program of Matt Johnson Music Foundation Inc., a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, so every donation is tax-deductible and goes to students.
Make a giftHe taught kids to believe they could play.
Matt Johnson grew up in Harris County — boys choir, first-chair trumpet, then a guitar he never put down. He became the singer and songwriter of the Atlanta rock band The Dirty Souls, and off stage he was a music teacher: private lessons, summer camps, recitals, and a long line of kids who walked out of his lessons standing a little taller.
Matt passed away in 2016. This scholarship keeps his gift moving — one young musician at a time.
Read Matt's story