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(Cambridge,
MA)—Aaron P. Dworkin, Founder and President of the Sphinx
Organization, which focuses on youth development and
diversity in classical music performance and education, is
the recipient of Harvard University’s Luise Vosgerchian
Teaching Award. Dworkin will visit Harvard University on
Friday,
March 11 to attend a lunch in his honor and deliver a
lecture, “Breaking the Sound Barrier: The Sphinx
Organization and Classical Music,” which will be held at 3
pm at the Barker Center for the Humanities, 12 Quincy St.,
Cambridge, MA. Admission
is free and open to the public (tickets or RSVPs are not
required). For more information, call 617.495.8676 or visit
www.ofa.fas.harvard.edu/lfp
The Luise Vosgerchian Teaching Award, which offers an
honorarium of $10,000 to a nationally recognized educator
and is administered by the Office for the Arts at Harvard,
was established by Professor and Mrs. Ray A. Goldberg and
the Max
Goldberg Foundation in order to perpetuate the values and
teaching skills represented by the late Professor
Vosgerchian who, at her retirement from Harvard University
in 1990, was the Walter W. Naumberg Professor of Music
Emerita in the
Department of Music. The guidelines require that the
recipient embody the following qualities: selfless
commitment; artistic conscience; a constant renewal of
approach to subject matter; ability to motivate in a
positive and creative way; a sincere interest in the
development of the whole person; and the ability to present
musical knowledge in a way that is applicable to other
disciplines.
“Aaron Dworkin embodies the very qualities that the creators
of the Luise Vosgerchian Award hold most dear,” said Jack
Megan, Director, Office for the Arts at Harvard. “Just as
Professor Vosgerchian did, Mr. Dworkin has inspired
generations of students with his energy, passion, devotion
and musical brilliance.
Through the creation of Sphinx, he has fostered the musical
development of literally thousands of young people, and
begun to change the face of classical music both with regard
to orchestral membership and repertoire. He is an artist, an
advocate, a strategist and a man on a mission, and the
ripple effects of his work are being felt in classical music
circles across
the country.”
Named a 2005 MacArthur Fellow, a Member of the Obama
National Arts Policy Committee and President Obama’s first
nominee to the National Council on the Arts, Aaron P.
Dworkin is the Founder and President of the Sphinx
Organization, the leading national arts organization that
focuses on youth development and diversity in classical
music. The organization impacts groups underrepresented in
classical music through its educational and community
programming including the Sphinx Preparatory Music Institute
and Sphinx Performance Academy, which reach over 35,000
youth each year. With over $150,000 in prizes and
scholarships awarded annually, the Sphinx Competition
showcases the top young musicians of color of the
highest artistic caliber and features top professional
minority musicians through the all Black and Latino Sphinx
Symphony.
A musician, author, social entrepreneur, artist-citizen and
an avid youth education advocate, Dworkin has received
extensive national recognition for his vast accomplishments.
He is the recipient of the National Governors Association
2005
Distinguished Service to State Government Award, Detroit
Symphony’s 2007 Lifetime Achievement Award, 2003 Michiganian
of the Year, Crain’s 40 Under 40 and Who’s Who Awards, BET’s
History Makers in the Making Award, AT&T Excellence in
Education Award, University of Michigan’s African-American
Alumni Council’s 5 Under 10 Award, "Entrepreneur Of The
Year" award by the National Black MBA Association-Detroit
Chapter, and Interlochen Arts Academy’s 2003 Path of
Inspiration
Award.
Dworkin authored an autobiographical poetry collection
entitled They Said I Wasn’t Really Black as well as a
children’s book, The 1st Adventure of Chilli Pepperz. His
writings have been featured in Symphony Magazine,
Polyphonic.org, Andante, an online
music industry magazine, and others. He has contributed to
the first English edition of Superior Bowing Technique, a
treatise by legendary violinist Lucien Capet, and authored
the foreword to William Grant Still’s Violin Collection
published by WGS Music. Dworkin founded and served as
Publisher and Editor-in-Chief of The Bard, a literary
magazine with a readership of over 40,000 throughout
southeast Michigan. A passionate advocate for excellence in
music education and diversity in the performing arts, he has
been a frequent keynote speaker and lecturer at
numerous national conferences. He has produced and recorded
two CDs entitled Ebony Rhythm and Bar-Talk, in addition to
producing and directing the independent film Deliberation.
He has also transcribed works for electric strings and
developed Electric String 201, a college-level preparatory
course in electric string performance.
An accomplished electric and acoustic violinist, Dworkin
received his Bachelors of Music and Masters of Music in
Violin Performance from the University of Michigan School of
Music, graduating with high honors. He attended the Peabody
Institute, the
Philadelphia New School and the Interlochen Arts Academy,
studying with Vladimir Graffman, Berl Senofsky, Jascha
Brodsky, John Eaken, Renata Knific, Donald Hopkins and
Stephen Shipps.
In his role as a visionary leader, Dworkin has led two
phases of strategic planning with The Sphinx Organization.
He also served as the Co-Chair of the Arts and Cultural
Education Task Force for the State of Michigan designing the
required arts curriculum
for Michigan schools and serves as Co-Chair of the Planning
Task Force, which oversees the strategic merger of ArtServe
Michigan (statewide arts advocacy organization) and the
Michigan Association of Community Arts Agencies.
In addition, Dworkin serves on other strategic planning committees
including the League of American Symphony Orchestras, as
well as on the boards of directors of several
regional and national music and education organizations.
The Luise Vosgerchian Teaching Award honors individuals who
reflect her values and dedication to music and arts
education. Previous recipients include Gustav Meier, Music
Director, Greater Lansing (MI) Symphony Orchestra and
Greater Bridgeport (CT)
Symphony; Joan Panetti, professor of music at the Yale
University School of Music; Curt Cacioppo, professor of
music in the Music Department of Haverford College; Phyllis
Curtin, opera singer and Dean Emerita of Boston University’s
School for the Arts; Lowell
E. Lindgren, professor of music at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology; Elma Lewis, arts educator, activist
and founder of Boston’s Elma Lewis School of Fine Arts;
Claire Mallardi, Lecturer on Dramatic Arts and Artistic
Director Emerita of the Office for the Arts at Harvard Dance
Program; Robert Mann, founder and first violinist of the
Juilliard String Quartet and a member of the Juilliard
School Music Division faculty; co-recipients Mark
Churchill, educator, conductor, cellist and Dean of New
England Conservatory’s Division of Preparatory and
Continuing Education, and Marylou Speaker Churchill,
violinist and member of the faculty of the New England
Conservatory of Music (College and
Preparatory School) and the Heifetz International Music
Institute; and Thomas G. Everett, Director of Bands at
Harvard University and Jazz Advisor to the Office for the
Arts at Harvard.
# # #
The Office for the Arts at Harvard (OFA) supports student
engagement in the arts and integrates the arts into
University life. Through its programs and services, the OFA
teaches and mentors, fosters student art making, connects
students to accomplished
artists, commissions new work, and partners with local,
national, and international constituencies. By supporting
the development of students as artists and cultural
stewards, the OFA works to enrich society and shape
communities in which the arts
are a vital part of life. Information: 617.495.8676,
ofa@fas.harvard.edu,
www.ofa.fas.harvard.edu.
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