In 2025, the NIDA Foundation Trust will distribute129 scholarships to students valued at over $1. 2 million. To acknowledge this lifechanging support by donors, NIDA held its third annual Scholarships Celebration and presented 25 Major Scholarships to students on the night.
The event was hosted by NIDA’s Head of First Nations, Travis Cardona (Acting, 2008), with speeches made by Hamish Balnaves of The Balnaves Foundation, NIDA’s Principal Patron of First Nations, NIDA Chair, Catherine West and NIDA CEO, Liz Hughes, along with a beautiful vocal performance by third-year Bachelor of Fine Arts Acting student Quinn Chambers accompanied on piano by NIDA’s Head of Music, Nicole Stinton.
“I want to thank all the incredible donors whose continued generosity supports NIDA students in their training to become the next generation of creative arts storytellers,” said NIDA CEO Liz Hughes.
This year’s scholarships provide vital financial assistance for new students relocating from interstate, regional and remote areas including Mount Louisa and Alligator Creek in Townsville, Brisbane, Surfers Paradise, Perth, Canberra, Melbourne, Dubbo, Orange, Nowra and Narara in regional New South Wales and two students from Orford in Tasmania.
Guests in attendance included new scholarship donor Dylan Alcott AO, Hamish Balnaves, Amelia Hart and Kelly-Maree (The Balnaves Foundation), Andrew and Cathy Cameron, Anthony and Jacqueline Kerwick, Sarah Christie (Amazon Prime), Loren Bradley (Finch), Lisa Santo-Buchler, Susan Van Dorens (Animal Logic Entertainment) Maria Alexandrou, Thea Spiropoulos, Stacey Vanos, Christine Lynch OAM, Mary Nagle, Helen Zerefos and Ted Hamilton OAM (Chrysanthy & Tessa Mallos Memorial), Allison McCann (ARA), Rudi McGregor and Stephen Baldwin (Brian Walsh Memorial Foundation) Leasa Beasely and Clair Stevenson (Inghams), Margaret Kirby and Melissa Rankine, Peter Lowry AM and Carolyn Lowry OAM, Daniel Stephenson (You Tube) and Michael Hassett (TDC) who spent time meeting with their student recipients and their families.
For more information on Scholarships at NIDA, visit: https://www.nida.edu.au/study/students/scholarships/
Gallery
1) Dylan Alcott and first-year Technical Theatre and Stage Management student, Kaia Krause, recipient of the Dylan Alcott scholarship.
2) Hamish Balnaves gave a speech at the Scholarship Celebration.
3) Third-year acting student Quinn Chambers performed a song at the Scholarship Celebration. Photos by Dominic Bleijie.
4) From left to right: Sarah Christie (Prime Video), first-year Dramatic Writing student Thea Jade, first-year Dramatic Writing student Nicole Scharf and Hwei Loke (Prime Video).
5) Daniel Stephenson (YouTube) with first-year Acting student, Cecilia Dewar.
*Header Image: Scholarship recipients at NIDA. Photo by Dominic Bleijie.