USDAN CENTER RECEIVES GRANT FROM THE
LINDA AND ISAAC STERN CHARITABLE FOUNDATION
TO ESTABLISH
THE 2012 ISAAC STERN STRING SCHOLARSHIP
A scholarship in the name of Isaac Stern, the violinist, educator,
humanitarian, and savior of Carnegie Hall, will soon be presented to a
violin student at Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts
(www.usdan.com). The scholarship has been funded by a generous grant from
the Linda and Isaac Stern Charitable Foundation. Usdan¹s faculty will hold
auditions this spring in order to identify the winning student.
Virtuoso violinist Isaac Stern was one of the twentieth century¹s most
renowned, beloved, and recorded musicians, as well as the teacher and mentor
to many of today¹s leading performers. Mr. Stern made his recital debut at
the age of fifteen, and by the age of twenty-two he had performed at
Carnegie Hall, the institution that he later saved and then served as
President for thirty years. From the late 1940¹s until his death in 2001,
Isaac Stern toured on every continent, performing 200 concerts each year.
Whether in personal interactions with students and friends, or in his role
as an international cultural ambassador, Isaac Stern received scores of
awards and honors around the world. Dale Lewis, Executive Director of the
Usdan Center, together with the Center¹s Board of Trustees, recently
announced the new scholarship: ³We are thrilled to have this opportunity to
award a scholarship in the name of Isaac Stern, and we are indebted to the
Foundation¹s Trustees, who have made it possible for one of our students to
have a transformative summer of study in his honor. What a privilege it is
to be entrusted with a scholarship in the name of this legendary artist. We
look forward to announcing its winner this spring.²
Usdan Center for the Creative and Performing Arts has introduced the arts to
more than 70,000 children since its founding in 1968. The Center is open to
all young people who are interested in the arts, from age 6 to 19. Alumni
have performed with the New York Philharmonic, Boston Symphony, Chicago
Symphony, Los Angeles Philharmonic, and many other major orchestras and
ensembles. Alumni have won Grammy Awards for classical music producing, have
achieved fame in jazz (Jane Monheit), and on Broadway, Television, and Film.
(Actors Natalie Portman, Olivia Thirlby, and Lisa Gay Hamilton; Sirius radio
host Seth Rudetsky; Playwright Michele Lowe).
Usdan¹s curriculum includes more than 40 programs in music, art, dance,
theater, writing, nature & ecology, and chess. Admission is based on an
expression of interest in the arts, and one third of Usdan students attend
on scholarship. During the Center¹s summer season, 1,600 young people travel
to its 100-acre Long Island campus on buses that serve most towns in the New
York metropolitan area. Although Usdan¹s mission is for every child to
establish a lifetime relationship with the arts, the unique inspiration of
the Center has caused many to go on to careers in the arts. Usdan alumni
regularly appear with major orchestras such as the New York and Los Angeles
Philharmonic, in Broadway shows, and in major dance companies such as New
York City Ballet, and American Ballet Theater. The Center¹s daily concerts
have presented such visiting artists as the Tokyo String Quartet, Yo-Yo Ma,
Emanuel Ax, André Watts, Canadian Brass, James Galway, and hundreds of
others. Usdan also offers special opportunities for advanced high school-
age performing and visual artists. These include Music Staff Internships, a
Summer Ballet Intensive, and a program of immersion in the visual arts and
college preparation for selected high school age a students. Further
information is available on the Center¹s website, www.usdan.com. Usdan
Center is an agency of the UJA-Federation of New York.