New York University President L. Jay Oliva and Alberto Vilar — co-chairs of the International Selection Committee of the Alberto Vilar Global Fellows in the Performing Arts program — today announced that 19 young performing artists from throughout the world have been selected as semi-finalists for the new, prestigious Vilar Fellowships at NYU. On March 25 and 26, they will compete in New York to be among the six to be chosen as the first group of Vilar Global Fellows. They will begin their studies in the fall of 2002.
In all, there were 360 performing artists students and graduates from 191 colleges and universities — who applied from Europe and North America for the chance to be a Vilar Fellow at NYU. Candidates for the fellowships can apply in the following artistic categories: acting, dance, design, dramatic writing, filmmaking, instrumental performance (piano and woodwinds), jazz studies, musical composition, music technology, music theatre (vocal performance and writing), and cross-disciplinary.
The Vilar Global Fellows Program at NYU was unveiled last spring. Mr. Vilar, a renowned philanthropist of the arts and the chairman of Amerindo Investments, has pledged $23 million to establish the Vilar Global Fellows program, which is modeled as a Rhodes Scholarship program for the performing arts based at NYU. The Vilar Global Fellows Program will bring promising and talented young performing artists to New York City for two years of fully-funded study.
Dr. Oliva said, “The inaugural year of this program is proving to be an enormous success. We have had well over 300 applicants who display a wonderful range of talents, and immense promise as performing artists.
“We are very grateful to those who have agreed to serve as selectors, both on the international committee and on the regional committees. To have such an esteemed and discriminating group of people from the world of the arts act as selectors ensures the quality of the Fellows and reaffirms the importance of the Vilar Program.”
Mr. Vilar said, “Each of the semi-finalists possesses extraordinary talent; and together, represent the future of the classical performing arts. “Crucial to the development of the arts is the nurturing of its next generation of stars. The Vilar Global Fellows will play a major role in that effort, and I am proud to be partnered with NYU in this project.”
The semi-finalists are: · Rania Ajami; Princeton University; FILMMAKING · Andrew Brinded; Coventry University, England; MUSICAL THEATRE WRITING · Victoire Charles; Fordham University; ACTING · Saviana Condeescu; Polytechnic University of Bucharest, Romania; DRAMATIC WRITING · Telly Fowler; Ohio State University; DANCE · Enver Gjokaj; UC Berkeley; ACTING · Jacob Hatley; UNC Chapel Hill; FILMMAKING · Aaron Jafferis; UC Berkeley; MUSICAL THEATRE WRITING · Ales Aki Killian; Academy of Fine Arts, Prague, Czech Republic; MUSIC TECHNOLOGY · Arnulfo Maldonado; University of the Incarnate Word, Texas, USA; DESIGN FOR STAGE AND FILM · Carlo Mirabella-Davis; NYU Tisch School of the Arts; FILMMAKING · Kevin Lowell Morse; Mount Allison University, Canada; MUSICAL THEATRE WRITING · Marco Panascia; Berklee College of Music; JAZZ STUDIES · Jeremy Rishe; Univ. of Utah; ACTING · John Savage; NYU Steinhardt School of Education; WOODWIND STUDIES · Matthew Shulman; Oberlin College; JAZZ STUDIES · Tolga Tuzun; Istanbul Technical Univ.; MUSIC THEORY AND COMPOSITION · Yung Wook Yoo; Juilliard School; PIANO STUDIES · Patricia Zarate; Berklee College of Music; JAZZ STUDIES
The semi-finalists were chosen by “selectors” professionals in the performing arts in various regions in Europe and North America from among a group of Fellowship applicants initially reviewed and approved by faculty at NYU.
On March 25th, the 19 semi-finalists will gather at New York University to be audition for a second time. Twelve finalists will go on to a final round of auditions the next day for members of the International Selection Committee, which was announced last week. Its members include:
James Bartek Mark Morris John Conklin Marilyn Neeley John Corigliano Jacquline Park William Finn Morton Subotnick Derek Gordon Petr Zelenka Joanna Merlin Baroness Mariuccia Zerilli-Marimò
The first step of the application process for the Vilar Fellowships is to submit work to NYU for evaluation by appropriate academic departments. Those who pass a stringent faculty review are then forwarded to the six regional selection committees, which are located in eastern Europe, western Europe, and the north-eastern, mid-western, south-eastern, and western regions of North American. The regional selection committees are the second step. Top candidates from this step of the process semi-finalists — go to New York City in the spring, where they compete further. The international selection committee chooses the group who will become Vilar Fellows and study at NYU.
Regional selection committees will be established in Asia/Australia and South America in fall 2003 and in Africa and the Middle East in fall 2004.
The Alberto Vilar Global Fellows in the Performing Arts was established by philanthropist Alberto Vilar at New York University to identify and support promising students of exceptional talent in the performing arts from around the world for a special two year program of graduate education, training, and support. Vilar Fellows will receive full tuition, housing, and travel funds.
New York University, which was established in 1831, is one of the largest and most prestigious private research universities in the U.S. It has more international students than any other U.S. college or university. Through its 13 schools and colleges, NYU conducts research and provides education in the arts and sciences, law, medicine, dentistry, education, nursing, business, social work, the cinematic and performing arts, public administration and policy, and continuing studies, among other areas.