For the fourth year running, First Act Inc. has donated scholarship funds for students at the Heifetz International Music Institute Summer Program in Wolfeboro, NH.
First Act’s Chairman of the Board, Bernard Chiu, offered congratulations, “We wish all of the recipients continued success in their musical studies.”
In 2003, First Act partnered with the Heifetz Institute to provide scholarships to summer program candidates. Together, First Act and Heifetz are dedicated to inspiring and enabling young people to experience the joy of making music. To date, First Act has contributed more than $125,000 in scholarship funds to students.
All attendees and scholarship candidates for the summer program are selected by the Heifetz International Music Institute.
2006 Scholarship Recipients:
Sarah Vendsel
Sarah Vendsel teaches at the University of Tennessee/Chattanooga, and in 2003 she was named the winner of a Collegiate String Competition held by the Music Teachers National Association. She received her bachelor¹s degree in violin performance from Southern Methodist University before earning her master's at the New England Conservatory, and she has had experience playing with a range of orchestras from Tennessee to her native state of Texas.
Benjamin Thacher
In 2005, Ben won first prize in the International Chamber Music competition, and this gave him and his piano trio the opportunity to perform at Carnegie Hall. He is currently a student at the New England Conservatory and a soloist for several orchestras. This summer he will be a fellow at the Perlman Music Program.
I-Chieh Wang
I-Chieh has already established herself as a pianist with a great deal of promise in Taiwan: upon forming a piano quintet and trio with a couple of classmates, she won a chamber music award in a national contest. An active soloist and chamber musician, she has begun to make a respectable career in the US, where she is now a freshman at the New England Conservatory of Music.
Samuel Künstler
Samuel Künstler is a soloist and chamber musician who started playing the cello at the early age of 4. Last year, he was selected by the Rotary Club of Paris Nord-Est to record a full length CD, and he is currently studying at the New England Conservatory.
Michael Long
Besides serving as principal violist in his school's orchestra, Michael has given recitals around the metropolitan Atlanta area in venues such as Atlanta City Hall and Symphony Hall. A three-time selected candidate for the Georgia All-State Orchestra, he has also been a part of the Atlanta Symphony Orchestra's Talent Development Program, in addition to studying as an Emerson Scholar at the Interlochen Arts Camp. Michael is currently a student at the New England Conservatory, and he is receiving this scholarship for the second time.