School of Music and LPO pair up to bring scholarship money

By Olivia Vidal

BATON ROUGE—The LSU College of Music and Dramatic Arts (CMDA) announced on March 17 the collaboration with the Louisiana Philharmonic Orchestra (LPO). The new partnership will benefit both groups and bring in money for student scholarships.

CMDA Communications and Marketing Coordinator Ronette Boshea said just yesterday staff from the LPO came to campus to check out the space in the Union Theatre for a concert in May. The theatre will allow an 85 to 90 piece group to perform, Boshea said.

Pairing up with the LPO isn’t the only thing that is being brought to the CMDA. The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation Grant will benefit the school in bringing more money to its scholarship programs.

The $40,000 grant will help start up the partnership between the two groups as well as the efforts for scholarship fundraising.

“The proceeds from the concerts go to the scholarship drive,” Boshea said. “About 1.2 million dollars has been lost in scholarship money over the years.”

This loss in funds has made a huge impact on the School of Music, especially with wanting to bring in students from abroad to study at LSU.

“There is less money available for scholarships because of cut backs at the university,” Boshea said. “Two million dollars needs to be replaced.”

This summer, the CMDA and LPO will try to work out other collaborations and come up with more ideas for things to do, such as more concerts, classes, LSU musicians performing with the LPO and faculty members performing in New Orleans with the LPO.

Boshea said the collaboration of the two groups also receives support from the Baton Rouge Symphony.

“These three groups cross paths a lot,” Boshea said. “It’s a great opportunity for students to perform with a professional group and to formalize those cultural connections.”

The LSU School of Music is one of the best music schools nationally, according to Schoolaah.com, a website designed for college and university rankings.

In order to save that reputation, the school’s joint effort to raise money with the LPO will help bring in more scholarship money, students, along with learning  and performance opportunities.

“Trying to maintain that level of scholarship funds is what we’re trying to do,” Boshea said.

The scholarship benefit concert featuring the LPO with support from the Baton Rouge Symphony Orchestra will perform May 5 in the LSU Student Union Theater with Gustav Mahler’s “Symphony No. 7.” The LPO will also reside at the School of Music for the whole month of May.