First, the Juilliard community salutes five donors who had previously endowed scholarships—and recently made additional large gifts to strengthen our scholarship resources now, when the funds are most urgently needed by our students. These individuals, who prefer anonymity, stepped forward with extraordinary infusions of current support, making a crucial difference in the School’s ability to meet the growing need for financial aid.

The Luther Henderson Scholarship was established with a gala concert in October 2008 at Juilliard, when Billie Allen Henderson, Luther’s widow, along with hundreds of his friends, fans, and colleagues, gathered to celebrate his life in music. Luther Henderson studied at Juilliard and went on to a long and distinguished career in composing, arranging, and conducting until his death in 2003. With the new endowed scholarship, future generations of young artists will find it easier to afford their studies at Juilliard and follow in Luther Henderson’s inspiring footsteps.

The Joseph F. McCrindle Scholarship has been endowed with generous funding from McCrindle’s estate. McCrindle was a noted art collector and the founder and editor of the Transatlantic Review.

From the estate of Doris Benjamin, Juilliard has received funds endowing the Lester R. and Doris S. Benjamin Scholarship, an unrestricted award. The Benjamins’ generous provision for Juilliard students came as a welcome surprise. The Kay Wong Ling Friml Trust established the Rudolf Friml Scholarship, which is designated for piano students. The scholarship will continue to grow with the trust provision designating Juilliard to receive a portion of royalties earned by performances of Friml’s works. Friml was a Czech composer of songs, musicals, and operettas and is most known for Rose Marie and The Vagabond King.

The Lewis and Elizabeth Bellardo Scholarship, an unrestricted award, was endowed with a generous bequest from the estate of Samuel Bellardo, in memory of his parents. After receiving two degrees in piano from Juilliard—a B.S. degree in 1961 and an M.S. in 1963—Samuel had a distinguished career as a teacher and a composer. Piano and composition students will benefit from the Mary S. Hursey Scholarship, with funds from the estate of Mary Shambaugh Hursey. The estate of Genevieve H. Fouquet provided funds for the Barbara M. Hoeller Memorial Scholarship, an unrestricted award.

Dr. Samuel Chang, who received his bachelor’s degree in piano in 1990 as a student of Martin Canin and then went on to medical school, has established the Samuel and Loretta Chang Scholarship for students in the College Division.

The Beatrice Ohanessian Memorial Scholarship was established by her sister, Sita Ohanessian. Beatrice, who studied piano with Irwin Freundlich at Juilliard in the 1950s, had a long and distinguished international career as a performing artist and teacher. (For more information about her life and artistry, see the sidebar.)

Juilliard is pleased to welcome three scholarship donors who had no prior relationship to the School before establishing new awards. Bryan Koplin honored his grandfather’s lifetime love of music with the Gary J. Amsterdam Piano Scholarship. Lori Weaver and R. D. Robb saluted their mother with a drama scholarship in her name: the Edie Robb Scholarship Fund. And Barbara and Gary Brandt recently established five scholarships at Juilliard: in jazz, dance, music (College and Pre-College Divisions) and in the Music Advancement Program (MAP). All of the awards are titled in a similar way (the Barbara and Gary Brandt Family Dance Scholarship, for example) and are making a difference in several disciplines of study at the School.

In addition to the scholarship established by the Brandts, the Pre-College Division has two new awards for its students. The Samuel and Anna Jacobs Scholarship is an endowed award generously contributed by Ernest Rubenstein and the Samuel and Anna Jacobs Foundation, Inc. The Takako Saegusa Scholarship, a new award for pianists, was created by Pre-College alumna Yukari Saegusa in memory of her mother, who accompanied her to Juilliard on many Saturdays to encourage her studies.

The Mercantil Commercebank Scholarship is designated for Juilliard students from South America and is a welcome addition to the scholarships created with corporate and foundation support to Juilliard.

The School always welcomes the opportunity to discuss ways to support our educational and artistic activities through a variety of programs, including unrestricted gifts, currently funded or endowed scholarships, special project support, bequests, and other planned gifts. For more information about contributing to Juilliard, please call the Office of Development and Public Affairs at (212) 799-5000, ext. 278, or visit  juilliard.edu/giving.