VERO BEACH — Vero Beach Opera is pleased to announce that it has awarded piano scholarships to three Vero Beach High School students, each for a year of study with Dr. Marcos Daniel Flores.
The scholarships began in the summer of 2012 and will continue through the spring of 2013. Two recipients, Alex Jasmin(16,) and Melina Zohn(16,) received scholarships last year and are continuing their studies. Jeffrey Lamothe (16) was awarded a scholarship for the first time.
Recipients were selected from students who submitted applications with recommendations from their music teachers, and who were then invited to audition before Dr. Flores and members of the Piano Scholarship Committee.
“We were pleased to receive such impressive applications,” said Patricia Sawyer, Chair of the Piano Scholarship Committee. “This year most of the applicants had been studying piano or other musical instruments for a number of years or had been singing in auditioned choruses.“
Dr. Marcos Daniel Flores is a highly regarded concert pianist with over 25 years of teaching experience. In addition to his own concert schedule, he serves as the Organist/Pianist and Director of Worship Arts at Christ by the Sea Methodist Church in Vero Beach.
He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Music from the Conservatory of Music of Puerto Rico, a Master’s Degree in Piano Performance and Literature from the Eastman School of Music, and a Doctor of Musical Arts degree from Arizona State University.
Vero Beach Opera offers piano scholarships each year to a limited number of talented young students who show great promise and commitment to the study of piano, have limited or insufficient personal or parental resources in order to pursue the study and mastery of the piano, and live on the Treasure Coast.
Students over the age of 18 who qualify under these requirements and are currently enrolled in an academy, conservatory, institute, or university studying piano also are eligible. May 1, 2013 is the deadline for applications for the Piano Scholarship Program for the coming year.
The piano scholarships are funded solely by contributions from individual donors. To make a tax-deductible donation to the fund, please send a check made out to “Vero Beach Opera, Inc.” with “piano scholarship” in the memo field, and mail it to Vero Beach Opera, P. O. Box 6912, Vero Beach, FL 32961.
To learn more about the piano scholarship program, please visit www.VeroBeachOpera.org or call the Vero Beach Opera office at (772) 569-6993.
Volunteers serving on the Piano Scholarship Committee are Patricia Sawyer and Kendra Haines (Co-Chairs,) Shirley Goodell, Janie Gould, Rosemary Gagliardi, and Jean Ueltschi.
As VBO President, Dr. Joan Ortega-Cowan serves as Chairperson of the Scholarship Committee which includes both the Vocal and Piano Scholarship programs.
