Scholarship Program
The Rochester Music Guild is
proud of the assistance they have given music students in the
That same year, the Guild began awarding scholarships to
other music students in the
About the program…
The Guild awards a total of
fifteen scholarships annually. Twelve of
the scholarships are awarded to winners of the Guild’s Young Musicians
Scholarship Competition and the remaining three scholarships go to a senior
student at each of
The competition has four
categories:
·
Piano – Carter Douglas
Memorial Division
·
Strings – Georgia
Daniel Memorial Division
·
Voice – Sally Duffy
Memorial Division
·
Wind Instruments –
Carl Schroedel Memorial Division (funded by the Judy & Jim Sloan
Foundation)
The Guild hires a judge for each
division who critiques each student’s performance and determines winners.
The judges vary each year but are generally highly qualified and respected
musical individuals from around the area.
The Guild awards a total of $4800 in scholarships to first, second, and
third place winners in each division.
Funds for the scholarships come from membership dues and interest from
monies deposited in the Rochester Area Foundation for this purpose.
The
competition is generally held on a Saturday in early February. A Winners' Recital is held within a few weeks
of the competition. At the Recital, winners play one of their contest
pieces and receive their scholarship awards. A reception to honor the
winners follows the recital. See the Next
Competition page to see more details about the current year’s
competition.
Georgia Daniel Memorial Scholarship
Teaching Young Musicians – Link to
the Future
The Georgia Daniel Memorial Scholarship
was established in 2000 and is awarded to the 1st place winner in
the strings category of the Rochester Music Guild annual competition. Georgia’s cousin, Virginia Amundsen, was
instrumental in the development of this fund, honoring Georgia for over 22
years of dedication, teaching strings and directing orchestras in the Rochester
Public Schools.
Georgia was
always willing to share her knowledge with other teachers in the school system,
and volunteered to document guidelines and standards for the teaching of
stringed instruments in the Rochester Public Schools. Many of Georgia’s students competed successfully
for concertmaster/concertmistress positions in the nation’s top university
music programs, and went on to become professional musicians.
Sally Duffy Memorial Vocal
Scholarship
Devoted to the Human Voice
The Sally Duffy Memorial Vocal Scholarship
is awarded to the 1st place winner in the vocal category of the
Rochester Music Guild Scholarship competition.
Joe Duffy made a contribution in memory of his wife, Sally, shortly
after her death from cancer in July 1994.
He placed no stipulations on the donation – he simply wanted to honor
Sally in memory of her devotion to music and the human voice. He was delighted when the Rochester Music
Guild elected to place the money in a designated fund to be used for an annual
vocal scholarship in her name.
Sally was a two-time President of the Guild, 1978-1979 and 1987-1988, and
an ardent supporter of the Guild’s mission.
She had a passion for the arts in general and for music in particular,
especially choral music. She sang in a
choir at the National Cathedral in Washington prior to her marriage to Joe in
Alexandria, Virginia, in 1975. Shortly
thereafter, they moved to Rochester where she sang in the choir at Calvary
Episcopal Church and in the Rochester Symphony Chorale.
In Rochester, she
was very involved in helping numerous nonprofit organizations, including the
Guild. She could be found working hard
for the major fundraising event, the Party at Apache, and helping prepare for
various symphony concerts (even Joe was drawn into decorating tables for
Yulefest and serving ice cream in the park for summer concerts).
Carl Schroedel Memorial Scholarship
Supporting Youth in the Musical Arts
For a number of years, the Rochester Music
Guild awarded a $500 Summer Camp Scholarship to a winner selected by the judges
from among applicants participating in the annual Scholarship Competition. In 2005, the Judy and Jim Sloan Foundation
graciously offered to take over sponsorship of this award. In 2007, the award was renamed the Carl
Schroedel Memorial Scholarship.
Following a re-organization of the Scholarship Competition for 2008, it
was decided to rename the Wind Instrument division of the competition as the
Carl Schroedel Memorial Division in honor of Carl’s support of the Rochester
Symphony Orchestra and his service on the Rochester Music Guild Board.
Carl and his wife, Carol, came to Rochester from St. Louis in 1969 when he
became pastor of Rochester’s Peace
United Church of Christ. He served as
its pastor for over thirty years. Following his retirement, he continued his
career by serving the UCC church in Dodge Center part-time.
Trained as an opera singer, Carl will long be remembered for his role as
Tevye in “Fiddler on the Roof,” – not only once, but twice. He was a younger
Tevye in the 1970s when he first performed the role as part of a Civic Music
production; years later he was back by popular demand to repeat the role for
the Rochester Civic Theater. Carl not
only played Tevye, he said he “became Tevye” throughout the performances,
especially when Tevye had his little talks with God. He also played Captain Von Trapp in “Sound of
Music.”
The Rev. Carl Schroedel passed away unexpectedly at home in November 2006,
leaving behind a legacy of service to the community. He touched the lives of many in the Rochester
area, through the church, community services, the theater and music.
Judy and Jim
Sloan are long-time members of the community and are known for their generous
support of many worthwhile charitable causes through their Foundation. Among these, they have been enthusiastic
about supporting youth programs that encourage participation in music. In 2005, a grant from the Sloan Foundation
also helped make possible the Rochester Music Guild educational play/concert
about Clara Schumann’s life, Clara’s Visitor.
Carter Douglas Memorial Scholarship
The Gift You Have Received . . .
Give as a Gift
Carter Douglas was born in 1965 in
Rochester where she and her twin sister, Cathy, grew up. Carter was spontaneous, creative, caring,
athletic and very musical. Her
introduction to piano was provided by Evangeline Mitchell with whom she studied
for nine years. Practice for Carter was
never a chore; it could go on for hours because it brought joy and release and
a growing skill. She competed in local
competitions and shared a musical recital evening at the Rochester Art Center
with two young performers, Frances Go and Nora O’Sullivan. While a student at Rochester Community
College, she continued her piano studies with Mrs. Rantapas in St. Paul and at the
MacPhail Center for the Arts. She also participated in a summer program for
young musicians at Brevard, North Carolina.
Her varied experiences opened new doors to her at each turn and she
would return, full of enthusiasm and energy.
Those who knew her often recall hearing her play on a summer night, with
the windows open and Bach and some of her own compositions pouring forth . . .
music was in her head and in her heart.
Following her untimely death in 1986, family and friends from this
community and across the country worked to establish a scholarship fund that
would enable other young high-school-age musicians to share in new musical
experiences that would help broaden and deepen their musical understanding and
maturity. For years, a Carter Douglas
Scholarship was awarded to a winner selected from among all the categories of
the Scholarship Competition. In fall
2007, the RMG Board with the approval of the family, voted to rename the piano
division of the competition for Carter with scholarships funded by monies set
aside in her memory.
Carter’s
musicianship was a gift and a joy, both for her and those around her. It is only fitting that the gift be shared
and continue on forever in today’s young musicians.
Additional Awards
A Musical Heritage
Towards the end of the school
year, the Music Guild also grants three additional awards:
·
Suddendorf Memorial
Scholarships – $150 award to a senior selected by the John Marshall High School
Music Department and a $150 award to a senior selected by the Mayo High School
Music Department
·
The awards are presented in May at
each high school’s Senior Awards night.
The Suddendorf Memorial Scholarship Award
honors Sid Suddendorf and his wife Carol, who were prominent members of the
Rochester musical community for many years.
Sidney Suddendorf began his career with the Rochester Public Schools in
1946 as a music teacher. He taught music
at the junior high, senior high, and junior college levels. When John Marshall opened, he became its
first Choral Teacher. In 1966 he became
the first Choral Teacher at Mayo High School.
After several years at Mayo he became the District Music Consultant, a
position he held until his retirement in 1979.
Sid died in 1986. With money
contributed to the family in his honor, the memorial scholarship was started.
Sid’s wife, Carol, was a prominent vocal soloist, performing under Orvis
Ross and on occasion with the Rochester Symphony Orchestra. She was Choral Director at Bethel Lutheran
Church for 15 years. After she died in
1998, contributions in her memory from friends and family were added to the Suddendorf
Award. Both Suddendorf daughters, Anne
Judisch and Kathie Balfour, continue their parents’ dedication to music,
playing in the Rochester Symphony Orchestra and involved in other musical
efforts in the community.
In 2005 the Rochester Music Guild established Rochester Music Guild Scholarship to
honor an outstanding music student at Century High School as a match to the
Suddendorf Memorial Scholarship.
The
Whether the students continue their music for pleasure or as
professionals we know they will be dedicated to music appreciation, education
and performance – today and tomorrow.