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The Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarships Open For Australian Musicians

Mary Varvaris
In Partnership With Creative Australia

Creatives following the disciplines of acting, instrumental music, painting, and poetry are eligible for this year's scholarship.

Vivian Foeng, Artist Lab X SA 2023, Image courtesy of Contemporary Asian Australian Performance
Vivian Foeng, Artist Lab X SA 2023, Image courtesy of Contemporary Asian Australian Performance(Credit: Ben Searcy)

The Marten Bequest Travelling Scholarships return this year, offering life-changing grants to young Australian artists to pursue their studies and development through interstate and/or overseas travel.

Applications are now open and will close on Tuesday, 3 February, at 3 pm AEDT—or earlier if the limited number of scholarship proposals is met. Successful applicants will take home $50,000, which will be paid in quarterly instalments over two years. You can apply here.

The scholarships are administered by Creative Australia on behalf of Perpetual as trustee.

For the 2026 round of scholarships, creatives following the disciplines of acting, instrumental music, painting, and poetry are eligible to apply and receive financial support. Next year, the scholarships will provide financial support for disciplines including architecture, ballet, prose, sculpture, and singing.

The trust was formed from the estate of John Chisholm Marten, a dancer, performing artist, and philanthropist who appeared in a royal gala performance at Sydney’s Tivoli Theatre in 1954 during Queen Elizabeth II’s visit to Australia.

Born in the UK, Marten moved to Australia at a young age and resided in Sydney for most of his adult life. Marten established the trust to help young creatives pursue their disciplines by providing financial support for their training and studies.

The first Marten Bequest Scholarships were awarded in 1975, with three scholarships awarded for ballet, singing and instrumental music.

Notable previous winners of the scholarship include Australian singers James Young and Cassandra Doyle (2025), Brenton Spiteri (2019), Elizabeth Lewis and Alasdair Kent (2017), Suzanne Shakespeare (2009), Andrew Goodwin (2005), and many others.

Instrumental music winners include Maria Moles (2024), Joseph Franklin (2020), Gemma Lee (2019), Rosie Gallagher (2014), Aura Go (2012), Pei-Jee Ng and Pei-Sian Ng (2010), Ben Carey (2007), and more.