Masters of Harmony

Another First - The MOH Music Scholarship Grant

Masters of Harmony provides opportunity for local student

Mark Freedkin, Jul 17, 2005

The Masters of Harmony continued its support of music education in our schools and communities by awarding a college scholarship to a deserving student from a local high school. A check for $500 was presented to Michelle Juarez, a resident of Santa Fe Springs and a recent graduate from Santa Fe High School, to pursue advanced studies in music education at UCLA, starting in the Fall 2005 semester.

Ms. Juarez has been involved in her school’s instrumental music program, and she plans to obtain a Master’s degree in Music Education at USC after completing undergraduate studies at UCLA.

Mark Freedkin, Chairman of Youth Outreach for the Masters of Harmony, worked closely with Marlen Rivera, the College Coordinator at Santa Fe High School, who helped with the preparation and administration of the scholarship application process. According to Freedkin, “We have received so much wonderful support from the City of Santa Fe Springs over the years. We have also developed a partnership with the choral music teachers at Santa Fe High School for several years, including Jaclyn Normandie, who is the current choral music teacher, and Roger Estrada, formerly at Santa Fe High, who now teaches choral music at Upland High School. Both teachers have sent a number of their young men to participate in our annual Young Men’s Harmony Festivals, and we wanted to give something back to the community that supports us so well.”

We plan to make this an annual award, and hope to increase the scholarship amounts and the number of recipients. Several additional music students will be graduating seniors in the spring of 2006, and some of them intend to pursue advanced music education as well. We look forward to receiving their scholarship applications next year.

Ms. Juarez was joined at the award presentation by her mother, Linda, who told us: “We are so grateful to the Masters of Harmony for providing this scholarship to help our family. This money will help my daughter to purchase books and other materials that she needs to get her music degree.”

The Masters of Harmony is proud of its tradition of musical excellence and we are glad to have the opportunity to assist the young people of Santa Fe Springs.