By Dr. Susan Dantoni Susan Dantoni received the 2021-22 Undergraduate Scholar Award from Roberts Wesleyan University. She wrote this thank you letter to the Foundation. I wish to express my sincere appreciation for the opportunity afforded me of being selected as the Roberts Wesleyan University Presser Scholar for the 2022-2023 school year. There were many…
Pianist Laura Ward, soprano Magdalena Kuzma (center) and mezzo Sun-Ly Pierce at the Academy of Vocal Arts. Photo courtesy of The Chestnut Hill Local. By Baker Purdon, Music Fellow When I accepted The Presser Foundation’s Graduate Music Fellowship, I knew I would have the opportunity to see some of the best performances Philadelphia has at…
Kelsey Lee received the 2021-22 Undergraduate Scholar Award from the University of Rochester. This article was originally posted on the University’s website. By the University of Rochester Hajim School of Engineering & Applied Sciences On any given day, Kelsey Lee ’23 may begin her morning at the keyboard of a Steinway grand piano at the Eastman…
The Presser Foundation thanks Cameron Barton of Washington State University for writing this letter to us in the spring of 2021. By Cameron Barton, 2020-2021 Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award Recipient I am incredibly proud to be the recipient of a 2020-2021 WSU Presser Undergraduate Scholar Award in Music this year. My name is Cameron Barton,…
By Joseph Richards This is the 2nd post in a 2-part series about The Presser Home for Retired Music Teachers. Read Part 1 here. Love in the Home At times, the Presser Home celebrated more than camaraderie and an appreciation for music; it celebrated love as well. At times, married couples who were…
By Joseph Richards Designed by Henry E. Baton, The Presser Home for Retired Teachers was built in 1914, next to Theodore Presser’s personal home. The two properties were then altered, into the three story, H-shaped building seen in many photographs. That building still stands today. Casa di Riposo per Musicisti Inspiration in Creating a Home…
Pictured, from top left clockwise: Terell Stafford, Lei X. Ouyang, Marietta Simpson, Eric Owens, Nicole Robinson By Abby Rolland At its annual Board of Trustees meeting in June, The Presser Foundation was pleased to welcome five new committee members to its ranks. These individuals, who will each serve on one committee, will share their…
By Abby Rolland On May 25, 2020, in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, George Floyd was murdered by police officers in Minneapolis, Minnesota. While this was not the first (nor unfortunately, the last) brutal murder of an unarmed BIPOC man or woman, it began a national reckoning with systemic racial injustices that have…
By Abby Rolland The Presser Foundation is pleased to welcome two interns this summer – Julia Gregory and Joseph Richards. Julia and Joseph are both local undergraduate students who will be assisting the Foundation as we begin to prepare for the 100th anniversary of founder Theodore Presser’s passing (1925). Julia Gregory Julia is a rising…
By Abby Rolland Two plus years later, and the COVID-19 pandemic seems to be ebbing into an endemic. No doubt has the pandemic been devastating to nonprofits in many ways; yet there are many lessons that funders can learn. The Presser Foundation adapted its own practices and requirements during the pandemic and continues to assess…