New York University’s Steinhardt School of Culture, Education, and Human Development has announced a $1 million gift from the Dolan Family Foundation for a scholarship fund for students in the School’s acclaimed jazz program. The fund will provide scholarships for undergraduate and graduate students enrolled in the jazz studies program within the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions. The scholarship program will commence with the 2008-09 academic year.
“We are thrilled with this generous gift from the Dolan Family Foundation. The scholarships will make it possible for highly talented jazz performers and composers to study in one of the world’s finest jazz programs,” said Lawrence Ferrara, chair of the Department of Music and Performing Arts Professions at NYU Steinhardt. “Coupled with the program’s top notch faculty, rigorous curriculum, and ideal location in Greenwich Village, the Mecca of Jazz, this gift establishes Steinhardt’s jazz studies program as the premier in the nation to cultivate and develop the next generation of great jazz performers and composers.”
“Steinhardt’s jazz program is emblematic of the School’s mission, in that it is truly ‘in and of the City,’” said Mary Brabeck, dean of NYU Steinhardt. “Its students become part of the vibrant jazz community that exists in New York City, and both Steinhardt and the Greenwich Village community are enriched by it. I am delighted that the jazz program will now be accessible to even more deserving students by this generous gift from the Dolan Family Foundation.”
The program in jazz studies at NYU Steinhardt provides aspiring jazz musicians top flight conservatory performance training combined with the finest related academic and music courses. Students are offered unparalleled interaction and performance opportunities with internationally acclaimed artists and educators as well as the chance to perform weekly at landmark venues including the Blue Note Jazz Club, the Village Vanguard, Birdland, the Jazz Standard, and the Knitting Factory. Students attend master classes with today’s leading jazz players in New York City. The program provides students with the opportunity to develop as performers and to make the contacts necessary for a successful professional career in jazz performance and composition.