Professional Fellowships
I have always felt a desire to share the talents that I have developed or been given with others, and have found various ways to do this throughout my life — often through fellowships that focus on community work and offer opportunities for partnerships of this kind. I hope that service will remain a significant part of my professional life. I am certainly always open to new ways to use what I have to serve others; do you have any ideas for me? I would love to hear them!
The Academy — A Program of Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and The Weill Music Institute
The Academy is a two-year fellowship sponsored by Carnegie Hall, The Juilliard School, and the Weill Music Institute, in partnership with the NY Department of Education. The mission of the Academy is to provide post-graduate musicians performance opportunities, advanced musical training, and intensive teaching instruction and experience, with the vision that this can help young professionals bridge the gap between their academic and professional lives. Each fellow of The Academy is paired with a public school in one of the five boroughs of Manhattan and teaches part-time in the music program there. In addition to teaching, the fellows perform in a chamber music series at Carnegie Hall, participate in a residency at Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, NY, and attend a number of professional development sessions throughout the year.
2008-09 will be my second year as an Academy fellow, and I'm sure it will be another year of challenges and growth and surprises of every kind. As a part of my fellowship, I teach beginning, intermediate, and advanced string orchestra at the Long Island City High School. Second-year fellows are also invited to propose projects that reflect the mission of The Academy and, if these proposals are accepted, fellows are provided with a small stipend and generous administrative support to see the project to completion. This year I am incredibly excited to be working with two of my colleagues and would love for you to read about our plans for a collaborative performance including public school students from an elementary school and high school in New York, refugee students from Iraq and Burma, and the Philharmonic Orchestra of the Americas!
For more information, visit: www.acjw.org. Or look for my article in the November 2008 issue of Strad Magazine!
The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship
The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship was founded to promote the philosophy of Dr. Albert Schweitzer and to foster the attitude of service and “Reverence for Life” that Dr. Schweitzer so highly esteemed, which is best described in his own words: “Reverence for Life does not allow the scholar to live for his science alone, even if he is very useful to the community in so doing. It does not permit the artist to exist only for his art, even if he gives inspiration to many by its means. It refuses to let the businessman imagine that he fulfils all legitimate demands in the course of his business activities. It demands from all that they should sacrifice a portion of their own lives for others.” (Civilization and Ethics, p. 269.)
The mission of The Albert Schweitzer Fellowship is to develop “leaders in service” — individuals who are dedicated and skilled in helping underserved communities, and whose example influences and inspires others. When I became a Fellow in 2006, I admit that I did not know much of Dr. Schweitzer’s writing or work, but as I learned more about him over the course of that year, I found myself continually inspired and renewed by his philosophy and writing. Each Fellow attends monthly meetings and workshops; organizes with a small group a symposium that addresses a health-related issue in the community; and designs his/her own year-long project that in some way addresses an underserved community.
My Fellowship project involved designing and teaching a music appreciation class and violin lessons at an after-school program in South Boston. I taught a small group of middle school boys weekly for the 2006-07 academic year, and experienced first-hand the trials and joys of creating a curriculum — and of dreaming up a project, encountering the inevitable obstacles, and then seeing the project to fruition. I've recorded these experiences in a blog for the New England Conservatory website.
For more information: www.schweitzerfellowship.org