The TJ Byrnes Music Scholarship Fund was established to provide scholarship funds to support students in the Music Department at UNG. Awards are granted to students who are enrolled full-time at UNG, pursuing a baccalaureate degree or higher in Music, who demonstrate financial need, who are in good academic standing, and who demonstrate a high level of commitment to their performance, as determined by the Head of the Music Department.
At a young age, TJ Byrnes participated in the Big Band era of the 1940s, performing with highly successful and popular bands such as the Harry James and Tommy Dorsey bands. Despite his success as a performer, TJ Byrnes legacy lies in the lives of thousands of music students he was able to educate and inspire.
Mr. Byrnes established the music department at Gainesville Junior College (now UNG's Gainesville Campus) in 1967 and served as a band director for high school and college. His open door policy, attention and genuine care, demonstrated to his students that their overall well-being was of the utmost importance to him. TJ Byrnes was more than a talented musician. He was more than a teacher. For many he was an inspiration. He inspired his students to make music a part of their lives, and by doing so gave them more than a skill. He gave them a source of direction, confidence and purpose.
One of the many students TJ Byrnes had a long-lasting impact on was William T. "Bill" McDonald. Mr. McDonald was a member of the first class of Gainesville Junior College in 1967 and a saxophone pupil of Byrnes since high school. His lifelong love for saxophone and music can be traced back to a conversation he had with TJ when he was in 10th grade. TJ Byrnes said "Billy, if you will give music a chance you will fall in love with music, and whether music is a big or small part of your life, it will be so much more enjoyable if music is a part of your life."
In February 2016 Bill McDonald established the TJ Byrnes Music Scholarship Fund in his memory and to ensure that the university attracts and develops the best musicians in the region and the nation.
Your gift to the TJ Byrnes Scholarship Fund will help endow the scholarship so the university can continue to provide financial aid to future music students for generations to come and keep the memory of TJ Byrnes alive in the impact of future scholarship recipients.