$50K Solomon grant to support Zankel Music Center initiative

Skidmore College has received a $50,000 grant from the Alfred Z. Solomon Charitable Trust for a new program that will make it possible for young people to attend events at the college's Arthur Zankel Music Center free of charge. 

The grant will establish the Alfred Z. Solomon Community Fund for Children, Youth, and the Arts at Skidmore, which will provide free admission to Zankel Music Center activities to children ranging in age from six to 18 years. The new program will also conduct outreach to area schools to build appreciation of the performing arts among younger listeners and encourage people in this age group to attend events at the Zankel Music Center.

"We are deeply grateful to the Alfred Solomon Charitable Trust for its generous support of this new Skidmore College initiative," said Paul W. Calhoun, interim dean of special programs at the college. "We're excited about this opportunity to make our new Zankel Music Center available to a younger generation of arts enthusiasts. Our hope is that they will soon become regular patrons of the wide array of events held at Zankel throughout the year." Calhoun added, "We see this project as a wonderful way to honor the legacy of Mr. Solomon and to help local children and youth take advantage of the cultural resources that Skidmore has to offer."

Currently, younger audience members are admitted free to the majority of Zankel Center activities, but each year roughly 20 performances by top artists command an admission fee. It is these events ?which recently featured such artists as Ensemble ACJW of the Carnegie Hall Premiers Series, the Brubeck Brothers Quartet, and the American String Quartet ? that will now be open without charge to younger members of the community.

In addition, the Skidmore Department of Music invites special guest artists to the campus each semester to teach master classes to Skidmore students and to perform in concert. These events have typically required an admission fee but will now be cost-free to younger audiences. During the fall 2011 semester guests from the Alumni Concert Series and the Sterne Virtuoso Artist Series presented public concerts that would be ideal for younger artists to attend.

Skidmore's Solomon Community Fund for Children, Youth, and the Arts will be under the direction of the college's Office of the Dean of Special Programs. During the spring semester, plans will be finalized for the Solomon-funded program with a goal of welcoming younger members of the community to events on campus starting in the fall of 2012.