2008 Scholarship Benefit Concert

We invite you to join us for our eighteenth annual Scholarship Benefit Concert on Monday, May 12th at 7:00 PM in the Peck School of the Arts Recital Hall. This year we will be honoring Dr. Erwin O. Hirsch with the 2008 Arts Leadership Award.

Dr. Erwin O. Hirsch

Dr. Hirsch has been a longtime friend and supporter in numerous ways of the String Academy. He served on the SAW Board of Directors for many years and was also a collaborative sonata pianist for students at the school. The award has been presented annually since 1991 by the String Academy to an outstanding individual who has made a significant contribution to the Milwaukee arts community.

Erwin was born in Austria in 1920. After studying in Oxford, England, he came to the U.S. where he joined his parents and sister in Boston. He graduated from Harvard College in 1942 and from Harvard Medical School in 1946. Pursuing hematology research, he devised a method that for the first time successfully transfused blood platelets, today a routine procedure. Dr. Hirsch was called into the Army Medical Corps to serve during the Korean War from 1952-1954. After eight years of private practice in Providence, RI, he followed his increasing interest in medical education at Princeton Hospital in NJ. Called to the Medical College of Wisconsin as Dean of Students, Dr. Hirsch came to Milwaukee in 1970.

We hope you can join us in honoring Dr. Hirsch at the concert and reception following. The Benefit concert will feature solo and ensemble performances by current String Academy students. Two of the 2008 SAW concerto competition winners, violinist Katya Papatla and cellist Jacob Wunsch, will be featured as soloists with chamber orchestra. Proceeds from this event benefit the school’s scholarship fund, which helps to provide talented financially needy students with the opportunity to study at the String Academy of Wisconsin. We are excited about this upcoming event which promises inspiring performances and an enjoyable evening. Call 414-963-4729 for ticket information.