Students, Parents & Friends,
I am writing to invite you and your family, friends & neighbors to a very special Maplewood Music Studio Faculty Concert on Sunday, April 26 at 4:00. The concert will raise money for our Debbie Syzdek Scholarship Fund, which offsets the expense of lessons or classes for children of families in need. The fund honors the memory of Maplewood’s much beloved office manager from 2001 to 2008.
The concert will be at the Cunningham Piano Company (5427 Germantown Ave.). A reception will follow – food again generously provided by Le Bus Bakery, as it has been each year! There is no fixed price and there are no tickets. However, we encourage you to dig deep & give generously, in advance of the concert if possible.
This is our 7th annual concert for the scholarship fund. The first six were exciting, heartwarming and successful in all ways. The audience, made up of music students & music lovers of all ages, thoroughly enjoyed the events – as did the performing faculty members. We look forward to another great concert on April 26 and we encourage you to bring your entire family and to please invite your friends & neighbors as well. Please let us know as soon as you can how many people there will be in your party. (It will help us to have a reasonably accurate count.) Also, if you have any ideas for publicizing the concert, please let us know.
Checks may be made out to “Debbie Syzdek Scholarship Fund”. You may also make your donations by phone (215-848-8353). We will accept donations at the door as well. Please bear in mind that contributions to the fund are not tax deductible since Maplewood Music Studio does not have charitable status, however you can rest assured that 100% of the money raised will be used for children who wouldn’t otherwise be able to take music lessons. Each year, I honor Debbie’s memory myself by matching the first $3000 raised.
Parking at Cunningham’s is easy. Street parking is free on Sundays. We will also have use of the parking lot at the church next door to Cunningham’s. (Please bear in mind that the recital is on the 2nd floor and, unfortunately, there is no elevator.)
If you want to see what the concert may be like, DVDs from the first six inspiring concerts are available ($12 each + $2 for mailing, if necessary). Proceeds go to the scholarship fund. A DVD of this year’s concert will be available as well.
I thank you in advance for your support of this event and this fund.
Thank you!
– Rich Rudin
A Short Report
Since its inception in March 2009, we have raised a total of $32,800 for the Scholarship Fund. This includes all donations, payments for concert DVD’s and Rich Rudin’s matching funds.
55 students, age 4 through 17, have benefited from scholarships so far. (The fund is for students under the age of 18.) There have been 27 boys, 28 girls. Scholarships cover half the fee for lessons or classes. Since the first award was offered in July 2009, awards have totaled $26,369. From now through August, 2015, about $2600 is promised. This would leave only $3833 in the fund for next year. We hope to be able to continue scholarships for some current recipients who will need the help, while being able to offer help to new students throughout the upcoming academic year. Your help will make that possible.