The D’Addario Foundation has just announced the second round of recipients of their College Scholarships. Ten students from Foundation grantee programs – nine of them being the first generation in their family to attend college – will be supported for four years with a scholarship that helps cover the cost of college expenses. This brings the total number to twenty students benefiting from this initiative.
The recipients of the College Scholarships are a diverse group of students that have participated in robust instrument programs across the US including UpBeat NYC, OrchKids, Merit School of Music, New City Kids, Harmony Project Phoenix, Phoenix Conservatory of Music, and Laby Harmony Project of Ventura County. Recipients have been a part of their local music programs for most of their childhood, attending multiple days per week and benefiting from leadership development as peer mentors to younger students.
For over 30 years, the D’Addario Foundation has been dedicated to partnering with community programs that are using music education as a vehicle for positive social change. Offering this scholarship fund to students in Foundation-supported programs nurtures their continued success and encourages higher education to break cycles of poverty.
Scholarship recipient Keith Fleming from Baltimore Symphony Orchestra’s OrchKids program remarks, “The community that I live in is a very dangerous and violent place. There are a lot of young people that get into lots of trouble because they don’t have an outlet to attend that helps them escape from the violence. Music and Orchkids has been that outlet for me since 2008. I am very excited for the scholarship because it gives me a chance to attend the University of Miami. This school and destination has been a dream place for me because of the diversity in cultures. This scholarship is helping me get the chance to experience and enlighten myself. It will definitely help me grow as a person and musician.”
The D’Addario Foundation College Scholarship Fund is made possible by a generous donation from the Rita & Herbert Z. Gold Charitable Trust. To learn more and make a donation to this fund, visit ddar.io/scholarship.
