Photo of Friends Fellowship recipients and Friends of Music board members: front row, left to right - Jorge Alvarez-Marron, Austin Showen, Lauren Frick, and Kathryn Beach, Laura Sterner; second row, left to right—FOM Board Member Betty Lou Bryant, Christopher Garten, Kevin Dolan, Trevor Rowland, FOM Board Member Maggie Drennen; back row—FOM Board Vice President Dan Anderson, and FOM Board President Dr. Robert Northrup.

The Friends of Music Board of Directors recently awarded eight Shepherd University music students with scholarships known as “Friends Fellowships.” The Board provided the funds and asked music department faculty to select eight outstanding students as “Friends Fellows.” On September 10, 2009, the Friends Fellows were introduced and were presented their awards.

The 2009 Friends Fellows class includes Jorge Alvarez-Marron, cello, from Venezuela; Chris Garten, bassoon, of Frederick; Kevin Dolan, clarinet, from Beltsville, Md.; Trevor Rowland, piano, of Farmington, Utah; Kathryn Beach, saxophone, Germantown; Laura Sterner, trumpet, Hanover, Pa.; Lawren Frick, voice, Shippensburg, Pa.; and Austin Showen, voice, of Cross Lanes, W.Va.

The students expressed their appreciation of the awards that will further their individual musical goals, applying the funds toward tuition, music programs abroad or instrument purchases. Friends of Music Betty Lou and Robert Bryant are sponsoring Jorge Alvarez-Marron, who is “really pleased that I got this opportunity to come study at Shepherd University in the United States, and I have to thank the Friends for sponsoring me with my scholarship, and making my dreams come true. I know I wouldn’t have done it without the support of the Friends.” Trevor Rowland, sponsored by Friends of Music Rob and Quincy Northrup, is “extremely grateful to the Friends of Music for such an honor! I have been? worried about being able to afford to stay in school, but with this I can stay and shall do my utmost to honor the standards of excellence embodied by this music department.”

Austin Showen also expressed his gratitude for the fellowship that “will help me ?to continue to perform at the top of my ability musically and academically. As the price of higher education continues to rise, it is wonderful to have support from the Friends and to know that they truly care about ensuring the success of?Shepherd music students. Thanks again to the Friends for all they do for Shepherd Music!”?Chris Garten said, “First off, I want to thank the Friends of Music from the bottom of my heart. This comes at just the right time for me. I am going to graduate in the spring as a bassoon performance major, and I am still playing on a school instrument. This week I have an instrument on trial, and if it is what I want, I am going to buy it for $12,000. I intend to use the Fellowship to help pay for the instrument, as well as make modifications, repairs, and purchase a new bocal for it. I am also going to buy two key reed-making tools the ones I use now belong to the music department. I really want to thank the Friends for being there to help me make the leap into my professional career. I am very excited to represent the Music Department of Shepherd University as a professional bassoonist. Thank you Friends of Music!”

Lauren Frick said she “would like to thank the friends for this tremendous honor. I am planning on applying this scholarship to a European summer music program for the summer of 2010. This will help make this possible for me and my family.”

The Friends of Music is a non-profit organization supporting musical excellence at Shepherd University. In addition to providing numerous scholarships to promising young talent, they have purchased instruments for the music department-including a $140,000 Fazioli Piano, assisted in national and international travel-including the 2005 performance in Carnegie Hall and the 2003 appearance at the Montreux Jazz Festival in Switzerland, initiated a professional chamber ensemble-the Two Rivers Chamber Orchestra, and present an annual Guest Artist Series of exceptional concerts bringing world-renown performers to the Frank Arts Center stage.

Information about the Shepherd University’s Department of Music can be found at www.shepherd.edu/musicweb. For more information about the Friends of Music, to become a member, purchase tickets to the Concert Series or to make a tax-deductible contribution, call 304-876-5765 or visit www.sufom.org.