Lisanby Scholar Series: Joshua Ballinger
College of Visual and Performing Arts
SUMMARY: Music education major Joshua Ballinger is one of eight freshman arts students to have received a Lisanby Scholarship.
By Jen Kulju (M'04)
Growing up in Leesburg, Virginia, Joshua Ballinger started playing piano in the first grade. In the sixth grade, he picked up a bassoon and something “was different.” “I was really excited about bassoon,” recalls Ballinger, now a freshman music education major at JMU whose instrument is the bassoon. Ballinger also plays the baritone as a member of the Marching Royal Dukes and as a member of the Boston Crusaders Drum and Bugle Corps.
“A long-term dream of mine was to earn a position with a world-class drum corps, and I was able to work toward and achieve that goal partially because the Lisanby Scholarship allowed me to focus on what I wanted to do versus having to spend my time and energy financing my education,” says a grateful Ballinger. Ballinger lives on East Campus, where he often sees the Lisanby Museum and is reminded of Mrs. [Gladys] Lisanby’s generosity. “It’s humbling to know that she is so invested in my success and cares so deeply about the arts at JMU.”
