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New Scholarships Buoy Juilliard's Student Support

This past year the scholarship resources Juilliard makes available to its students have been greatly enriched by generous donors, and we are grateful to all of our benefactors. We would like to give special attention to newly created scholarships, both permanently endowed funds and current scholarships. The actors, dancers, and musicians who come to Juilliard to develop their artistry rely on this support to afford their studies.

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Margot Nadien endowed the David Nadien Scholarship in Violin, in memory of her husband, who was concertmaster of the New York Philharmonic under Leonard Bernstein. Constance Furcolo, a philanthropist and the widow of Foster Furcolo, the governor of Massachusetts from 1957 to 1961, provided support for vocal arts students with the endowment of the Constance Gleason Furcolo Scholarship. Honolulu attorney James Leavitt endowed the Hai Luen Chao Scholarship in memory of his wife (B.S. ’64, piano). His gift providing support for pianists is augmented by memorial gifts contributed by Chao’s friends at the time of her death, in 2012.

Kay McKaughan endowed the Dr. David L. Smiley Memorial Scholarship in memory of her father, a Wake Forest University history professor and arts lover. The Phyllis M. Kraeuter Scholarship in Cello was endowed with a recent gift from Irene Schultz, who pays tribute to her teacher, a Juilliard cello and music education alumna who taught here from 1935 to 1964. This scholarship joins the Karl H. Kraeuter Scholarship in Violin, an award endowed with an estate gift in 1986 honoring Phyllis’s brother, who had Juilliard degrees in violin, composition, and music education and was a member of the faculty from 1926 to 1941. The Constance Goulandris Scholarship is now a permanently endowed award designated for music students, of whom at least one each year will be of Greek heritage, in tribute to this arts patron, who was a member of a Greek shipping family.

The Georges Lurcy Scholarship is designated for graduate-level students who are of French heritage or from countries with French history, such as Vietnam. It was endowed by the Georges Lurcy Trust, which honors the late French art collector and which has long provided support for the Arthur Rubinstein Scholarship and Prize at Juilliard.

The Estate of Murray Present made a bequest endowing the William A. Present Memorial Scholarship in Piano. Murray Present (Diploma ’46, piano) had donated two Steinway pianos to Juilliard. The Estate of Samuel Marateck provided a bequest that includes the Rita Abrams Marateck Scholarship, designated for pianists.

The Thea Gerstle Scholarship in Memory of Luciano Pavarotti was a bequest from the Estate of Thea Gerstle. The Estate of Ruth Feinblatt made a bequest that will significantly strengthen the Juilliard Association Scholarship, in fitting memory of this longtime Association member and frequent performance-goer. The Estate of Phyllis S. Moss provided the Philippa Leeds Scholarship, for graduate level violin, viola, piano, or voice students.

The Edward F. Limato Scholarship, designated for drama students, was established by the Limato Foundation. The Nina Carasso Scholarship for Spanish Students joins a Carasso award designated for students from France. The Suntory Corporation supports the Tomodachi Suntory Scholarship, for students from Japan.

Jazz students will benefit from three newly created scholarships. Michael Ragan established the Pauly Cohen Jazz Scholarship in tribute to a trumpet world legend who continues to lead a big band in Florida. The Keeping the Blues Alive Foundation established the KTBA Torchbearer Scholarship in memory of Nicholas Potts. The Ann Ruckert Memorial Scholarship—designated for jazz, composition, or voice students—was created by the Songwriters Guild of America Foundation.

Friends and colleagues of a passionate New York City arts aficionado chose Juilliard as the place to establish the John P. Hanvey Scholarship. Drama Group 14 alumnus Bradley Whitford honored the former administrative director of Juilliard’s Drama Division with his gift creating the Harold Stone Drama Scholarship. Donna Romer honored her late son, whose interests included percussion, martial arts, and comparative religion, by establishing the Anthony Ireland Helzer Memorial Scholarship in Percussion.

Participants in Juilliard’s membership groups sometimes deepen their involvement with the school by making scholarship gifts. The John Philpit Scholarship and The Venerable John Greco Scholarship are two examples of their eponymous donors’ generosity. The Marilyn and Steven Emanuel Drama Scholarship joins the Emanuels’ previously established award in music. Doreen Weisfuse created the Courageous Spirit Drama Award, a companion award to one in dance she had created several years ago.

The Connie and Jesse Colin Young Scholarship is a new award reflecting the close collaboration between arts patrons in Aiken, S.C., and Juilliard. Californian Mary Bianco established the Moca Foundation Scholarship for graduate-level piano students. The William and Casiana Schmidt Scholarship, given by a couple in Florida, supports music students.

The Estate of Robert E. Hines made provisions for three new awards: the Germaine and Robert Hines Scholarship, the Harry and Gertrude Hines Scholarship and the Peter Mennin and Vincent Persichetti Scholarship. Robert Hines (B.S. ’52, choral conducting) was also a longtime supporter of the Robert Hufstader Scholarship, a Pre-College award.

At last spring’s Juilliard Gala, several guests were inspired to support the school with scholarship gifts, among them the Jill and Barry Lafer Scholarship, the Sandy and George Garfunkel Scholarship, and the Richard Prins and Connie Steensma Scholarship.

The Veda Kaplinsky Scholarship honors the artistic director of Juilliard’s Pre-College Division and chair of the piano department, who’s also an alumna. It was the gift of George Cai and Julia Lin. The Juilliard Alumni Association of Japan Scholarship was created with contributions from former students who live in Japan.

In addition to the new scholarships established at Juilliard, there are two new commencement prizes. The Erik D. Lamont Prize for Outstanding Opera Performance was created by composer Ellen Taaffe Zwilich (D.M.A. ’75, composition) in memory of her husband. Anita Kazarian, inspired to commemorate the 100th anniversary of the Armenian genocide with a meaningful gift in music, created the Mike and Mary Papazian Prize for Performance of Work by an Armenian Composer.


The school welcomes the opportunity to discuss ways to support our educational and artistic activities, which can be done in a variety of ways, including unrestricted gifts, currently funded or endowed scholarships, instrument donation, special project support, bequests, and other planned gifts. For more information, please call (212) 799-5000, ext. 278, or visit juilliard.edu/giving.

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