Tabor freshman Mollie Beaver (Wichita, Kan.) was one of four recipients of the 24th Annual John Lennon Scholarship. The award, given through the BMI Foundation, recognizes the top songwriters between the ages of 17 and 24. She tied for third place and was one of over 500 entries in this year’s contest.
The program annually awards up to $20,000 to the three best original song submissions. It is funded by gifts from Yoko Ono and Gibson Musical Instruments. The contest was judged by executives from Sony ATV Music Publishing, Universal, Arista Records and Megahouse.
“I was honored to receive this award as it confirms songwriting will be in my future in some capacity,” she said. “I was meant to write and I’m excited to see what the future holds.”
Beaver is also a member of the Tabor College Concert Choir. You can see its fall concert and many other arts and athletic events by visiting Tabor Webcast on YouTube.
1st: Connor Kauffman, singer/songwriter, Los Angeles, Calif.
- 19-year-old signed to a record deal after posting songs to TikTok
- Signed to a record label, single coming out in November
2nd: Emily O’Neal, student & singer/songwriter, Middle Tennessee State
- Semifinalist in the Music City Song Star competition
- Released four new singles in 2021, EP to released in November
3rd: Mollie Beaver, student & singer/songwriter, Tabor College
- Her single, “Never Wanna Lose”, is now charting No. 8 in Europe.
- Her most recent album, “Roads”, was released in August.
- Performed the national anthem at a Kansas City Royals game at age 13.
3rd: Trinity Rose, student & singer/songwriter, UCLA
- Youngest female contest to perform on reality TV series, “The Voice”
- Surpassed 8 million streams over Spotify