The Music for Youth Foundation (MYF), in conjunction with The National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA), will award three teenage musicians with the MYF $25,000 scholarship award. The three winners, who will be announced Monday, March 18, are to be chosen by a panel from various areas of the musical arts including Bruce Lundvall, president and CEO of Blue Note records, David Geber, chairman of the Manhattan School of Music’s string program and cellist for the American String Quartet, Betty Allen, mezz-soprano and longtime president emeritus of the Harlem School of the Arts, and Ricardo Morales, principle clarinetist for the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra.
The annual awards were created by the Music for Youth Foundation for NFAA’s Arts Recognition and Talent Search (ARTS) to support gifted young artists who are pursuing careers in music. MYF and ARTS evaluated and selected 13 semifinalists from a national pool of over 1,000 candidates in the categories of instrumental music, voice and jazz.
Larry Rosen, president of Music for Youth Foundation, says, “As funding has disappeared for public music programs, we feel the music industry must step in to stem the tide. The Music for Youth Foundation aims to reward innovative music education programs and talented young performers with grants and scholarships. Since the music industry relies heavily on young talent to sustain its business, it is only right that we should give back to music programs in a meaningful way.”
The Music for Youth Foundation (www.musicforyouth.org), was established in 1995, with the goal to provide music education for young people, and provide scholarships and support to those who choose to make music their life’s work. MYF provides meaningful financial support to organizations that put music back into the lives of underprivileged public school students, many of whom have lost music and art programs in their schools. MYF has provided over $1,000,0000 in donations to 21 organizations that provide low or no-cost lessons, workshops and ensembles to young people.
The National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA) Art Recognition and Talent Search (ARTS) is a program of the National Foundation for Advancement in the Arts (NFAA). NFAA’s mission is to identify emerging artists and assist them at critical junctures in their educational and professional development, and to raise the appreciation for and support of the arts in American society.
Originally Published