ROCHESTER, NY — The University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music has received a three-year, $1,000,000 grant under the Talented Students in the Arts Initiative, a collaboration of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Surdna Foundation that supports performing arts programs and endowments of leading national arts training institutions.
The grant benefits Eastman Pathways — a program of the School’s William Warfield Partnership with the Rochester City School District that provides approximately 75 promising City school students each year with scholarship aid that allows them to pursue music studies through Eastman’s Community Education Division (CED) at little or no cost. The award includes $240,000 in artistic and administrative support from the Surdna Foundation and $760,000 in endowment support, which must be matched on a one-to-one basis, from the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation. The grant will be used to provide pre-collegiate and collegiate scholarships for Pathways students, administrative and support services, and ongoing professional development of artist-faculty.
“At a time when arts funding in general has been cut both locally and nationally, we are extremely grateful to these two foundations for the leadership they have shown in supporting the arts — and specifically our Pathways program,” said Eastman School Director and Dean James Undercofler. “Their generosity ensures that promising City school students will continue to have the chance to develop their music potential to the fullest for years to come with the help of the Eastman School.”
Pathways students are recommended for the program by their City School music teachers, and must audition for CED faculty. Upon acceptance, they follow different paths of study — thus the name “Pathways” — depending upon their ages, interests, and ability levels. Students showing exceptional musical ability and commitment ultimately may be eligible to pursue a rigorous course of study that helps them prepare for entry into an undergraduate degree program in music, or possibly for admission to Eastman’s collegiate division. Each path requires commitment and communication among students and their parents, CED faculty, and music teachers from the City School District.
Through the Talented Students in the Arts Initiative (TSAI), the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation and the Surdna Foundation are investing more than $16 million to support the performing arts programs and endowments of leading arts training institutions and public performing arts high schools nationwide.
Eastman’s award is one of only two grants in Round III, the final round of this initiative. TSAI grantees were selected by peer review panel on the basis of the strongest combination of artistic and educational excellence, ability to carry out the program, potential impact of this grant on the institution and students, and the capacity to meet the 1:1 endowment match.
For more information on the Eastman School of Music, visit www.rochester.edu/Eastman. To learn more about Eastman’s Pathways and the William Warfield Partnership, housed in the School’s Institute for Music Leadership, visit www.rochester.edu/Eastman/iml. To make a contribution to Eastman Pathways, contact the School’s development office at 274-1040.
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About the Eastman School of Music
Recognized as one of the world’s premier music schools, the Eastman School of Music offers the finest quality music instruction at the collegiate and pre-collegiate levels. Founded in 1921 (by Eastman Kodak Company founder George Eastman) as the first professional school within the University of Rochester (NY), the School is dedicated to the comprehensive education of musicians and to enriching the musical life of the community. With more than 8,000 alumni, Eastman graduates have had a profound impact on the musical life of this country and abroad, holding a wide variety of positions of prominence in the arts world.
About the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation
Doris Duke, a lifelong philanthropist, distributed some $400 million, often anonymously, to a variety of charitable causes. When she died in 1993, she left her fortune, including her properties, to the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation.
The mission of the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, which was established in 1996, is to improve the quality of people’s lives by nurturing the arts, protecting and restoring the environment, seeking cures for diseases, and helping to protect children from abuse and neglect. With approximately $1.6 billion in assets, the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation is among the largest philanthropies in the United States. As of December 2001, the Foundation has awarded nearly $286 million in grants. Additional information can be found on the Foundation’s web site at www.ddcf.org.
About the Surdna Foundation
The Surdna Foundation, a national family foundation established in 1917, helps support organizations in five program areas: Environment, Community Revitalization, Effective Citizenry, the Nonprofit Sector, and Arts. Its Arts Program themes aim to improve the artistic capabilities of teens. Various initiatives confirm the value of teens making art with accomplished artists. Additional information can be found on the Foundation’s web site at www.surdna.org.