Scholarship Recipient Announcement:
The Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ (FOKO) are pleased to announce that the following young musicians have been awarded with the Kotzschmar Memorial Trust Scholarship after auditions on Saturday, March 7, 2015:
Josie DiPhilippo, 17, of South Portland studying piano with Naydene Bowder
Madelyn Flanigan, 13, of Yarmouth studying piano with Chiharu Naruse
Morgan Flanigan, 14, of Yarmouth studying piano with Chiharu Naruse
Hannah Flanigan, 16, of Yarmouth studying violin with Yasmin Craig Vitalius
Leah Israel, 15, of Cape Elizabeth studying voice with Judith James.
Congratulations to the winners and thank you to all the musicians who participated!
The Kotzschmar Legacy—Music Education
Mary Ann Kotzschmar established the Kotzschmar Memorial Trust Fund after the death of her husband Hermann Kotzschmar in 1908. The legal documents establishing the trust were dated November 28, 1911. The fund, at its inception, was valued at $4,781.02. After being left 25 years to accumulate, the fund began its annual use as stated in the trust guidelines, “to aid in the musical education of such pupil or pupils, of marked musical ability… [with] preference being given in such selection of beneficiaries to a promising pupil of the organ, the instrument through which Mr. Herman Kotzschmar‘s genius found its finest expression; in case no such promising pupil of the organ is found, the income may be used in aid of students of marked ability, of the piano, violin, other musical instruments or voice culture.”
In 1992, under the auspices of the Friends of the Kotzschmar Organ, the award process was re-instituted. No awards were given in 2001, 2002, or 2003; however, in the fall of 2003, the FOKO Board of Trustees distributed announcements to local music teachers, music organizations, and schools, informing them of the award and the requirements for applicants.
Originally limited to residents of Portland, the terms of the Trust were amended to include students from “the greater Portland area” so as to include young people who are students of the organ but do not live within the Portland city limits.
FOKO’s Board of Trustees has kept the scholarship running annually and its outreach has motivated and rewarded dozens of young musicians in the greater Portland area. As a continued goal to enhance the educational benefits of the scholarship, the auditions are meant to be encouraging for participants, performances are evaluated based on age (auditions are open to students ages 12-25) and skill level, and judges’ comments are shared with the students in order to foster a better understanding of their performance strengths and weaknesses through constructive criticism.
Once again, thank you to all the talented students who participated in pursuit of music education in the 2015 Kotzschmar Memorial Trust Scholarship.
