Madoff Loss Hits Art Aid for Young in Israel
source: http://www.nytimes.com/2009/05/21/arts/music/21foun.html?_r=1&ref=music
-
-
- slagface
- added this
TEL AVIV — For six months Illay Dahan had been putting in several hours a day on his cello, preparing a program of works by Bach, Fauré, Bruch and Paul Ben-Haim, an Israeli composer. Now the pressure was on, and Illay, an outgoing 12-year-old with floppy hair and glasses, was struggling to memorize the pieces.
He was preparing for Israel’s annual musical ritual, which began on Sunday, when the first of hundreds of musicians from around the country started descending on the city to audition for scholarships given by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
Small and little known outside Israel, the foundation has enormous influence there and in classical music worldwide. Receiving one of its scholarships for lessons, conservatory tuition or study abroad is an essential stamp of approval for Israeli musicians, and the foundation counts renowned musicians like Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham and Yefim Bronfman as recipients when they were students. But this year, disaster looms. The foundation’s endowment of about $14 million was in the hands of Bernard L. Madoff and evaporated in his Ponzi scheme. Like other victims of the fraud the foundation received statements showing false earnings tied to the stock market, said David Homan, the foundation’s New York-based executive director.
He was preparing for Israel’s annual musical ritual, which began on Sunday, when the first of hundreds of musicians from around the country started descending on the city to audition for scholarships given by the America-Israel Cultural Foundation.
Small and little known outside Israel, the foundation has enormous influence there and in classical music worldwide. Receiving one of its scholarships for lessons, conservatory tuition or study abroad is an essential stamp of approval for Israeli musicians, and the foundation counts renowned musicians like Daniel Barenboim, Itzhak Perlman, Pinchas Zukerman, Gil Shaham and Yefim Bronfman as recipients when they were students. But this year, disaster looms. The foundation’s endowment of about $14 million was in the hands of Bernard L. Madoff and evaporated in his Ponzi scheme. Like other victims of the fraud the foundation received statements showing false earnings tied to the stock market, said David Homan, the foundation’s New York-based executive director.
-
- groups:
- Classical Music
-
- tags:
- News, News and Politics, Culture, Art, 5 more
-
-
Mount_Zion
-
That is how they do it. Greed is absolute over there.
- 2 years ago
-
Mount_Zion
