STONY BROOK, NY, February 12, 2008 – Stony Brook University expects to increase its ability to compete for outstanding graduate students interested in its internationally renown Department of Music, thanks to a newly endowed scholarship and fellowship fund established by Long Island philanthropists and community leaders Erwin and Freddie Staller and their family. The $1.7 million dollar endowment will initially fund scholarship/fellowship awards for graduate students in the Department of Music’s Performance Program, beginning with students enrolling in the 2008 fall semester.
Erwin and Freddie Staller
Stony Brook’s Department of Music, known for its “conservatory training in a university setting,” is unique in its balance and strength in all areas of musical study – performance, music history and theory, ethnomusicology (the study of non-Western music) and composition. While placing an emphasis on 20th and 21st Century music and chamber music, the department encourages projects and studies which transcend disciplinary boundaries.
“Stony Brook has one of the preeminent Music programs in the country, and we wanted to help make it more accessible to students who might not otherwise be able to afford to advance their education and training,” says Mr. Staller. “We want the program to attract the most talented students it possibly can.”
Eugene Drucker, Emerson Quartet violinist with students
With a combined discography of well over 600 commercial recordings, Stony Brook’s internationally renowned faculty has performed on every major world stage. Faculty members have accumulated an array of awards that include multiple Grammy Award nominations. The Emerson String Quartet, Stony Brook University’s Quartet-in-Residence – “America’s greatest quartet,” according to TIME magazine – has received eight Grammy Awards. Other faculty members have received multiple prestigious honors and awards and are represented with hundreds of books, articles, and compositions. Department alumni teach at leading institutions in the U.S. and around the world and many graduates have attained great success as concert and recording artists.
Stony Brook University President Shirley Strum Kenny believes the endowment will have an immediate impact on the Music program.
“This endowment will not only enable Stony Brook to recruit outstanding student performers, it will also further elevate the stature of an already remarkable program and department,” said President Kenny. “Freddie, Erwin and the Staller family are generous with their time, energy and resources, and we are extremely grateful for their longstanding involvement with Stony Brook.”
“The creation of the Staller Endowment couldn't come at a better time,” said Emerson String Quartet Violinist, Philip Setzer. “With many other top music schools being tuition-free or moving in that direction, the endowment will enable Stony Brook to compete in recruiting the highest level of talent available. This helps immeasurably to insure that the Music Department at Stony Brook remains among the best in the world.”
The Staller Endowment to the Department of Music is managed by the Stony Brook Foundation. It was created through gifts from Mr. and Mrs. Staller, as well as through gifts made by the Stallers’ children and their families. Erwin Staller has served on the Board of Trustees of the Stony Brook Foundation since 1983, and in 1988, the University named its performing arts center in honor of the Staller family. In 2006, Mr. Staller and his son Cary were honorees of the annual “Stars of Stony Brook Gala.”
For more information on the Staller Endowment contact Graduate Program Director Professor Judith Lochhead at judith.lochhead@stonybrook.edu.
