Scott MacIntyre was named by USA Today as one of the 20 most outstanding college students in the nation. He graduated from the Herberger College of Fine Arts last year when he was just 19 years old and earned the ASU Alumni Association’s 2005 Outstanding Graduate Award. He also received a Marshall Scholarship, one of the most prestigious awards for graduate studies in the world. The Marshall Scholarship provides full funding for two years, which amounts to approximately $60,000.

MacIntyre’s accomplishments are stunning. Making them more so is the fact that he has been virtually blind since birth.

Born with only two degrees of tunnel vision – as if he sees the world through a tiny straw – he started playing the piano by ear at age three and began his classical training at age five. He reads sheet music note by note, and memorizes it one hand at a time.

At 14, MacIntyre was accepted into the ASU Barrett Honors College and the Herberger College School of Music. He made his orchestral debut at 15, performing as guest piano soloist with the Phoenix Symphony. A true prodigy, he has performed with the symphony six times, won a number of top competitions and studied on full scholarship at the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto, Tanglewood Institute at Boston University and the Mozarteum in Salzburg, Austria. He has produced five CDs, the first when he was only 11.

Walter Cosand, ASU professor of piano performance who has worked with MacIntyre since he was 14, recalls how his initial reluctance to work with such a young student was quickly dispelled.

"I remember how astonishing his ability to learn and perform new music proved to be," said Cosand. "I have been teaching talented pianists for 28 years. Scott may be the most promising performer I have ever taught."

MacIntyre is the latest in an amazing string of 12 ASU students who have won Marshalls in the past 13 years. Only 40 are named worldwide each year.

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