String Academy Board Member Julilly Kohler
Julilly Kohler has always had a love for music. As an avid supporter of the Arts in Milwaukee since the early seventies, she has seen many positive improvements and developments. For the past two years, Julilly has been a member of the SAW Board of Directors, and has been a vital link to the String Academy’s growth and success.
A native of Wisconsin, Julilly moved to Milwaukee in the sixties after receiving a law degree from the University of Wisconsin. She worked for Milwaukee’s Poverty Program, and then as an assistant district attorney for Milwaukee County. After marrying, she “semi-retired” to raise two daughters.
When her girls were older, Julilly went back to practice divorce law, and helped to develop the divorce mediation in Wisconsin. Three years ago, she closed her practice to spend more time with her girls, who were then at Elm School and Roosevelt Creative Arts School, and to pursue other goals. She recently acquired the Bradley Galleries on Downer, above Sendik’s Market, which keeps her very busy.
Julilly “lost her heart” to the SAW Program after hearing several students perform at a small gathering. She was impressed with many aspects of their performance and with the enthusiasm and purity of vision of Director Mimi Zweig. “The Academy has a unique place in Milwaukee. Patrons who hear the students for the first time are carried away by the beauty of their playing due to the high quality of instruction. This high level comes from a faculty that shares common goals, visions, teaching methods, and attitudes. Although each teacher’s approach is different, he/she shares these common threads.”
One of Julilly’s personal hopes as a board member is to see the scholarship program expanded to include Milwaukee’s South Side His panic and Hmong communities and the “new” Russians arriving in Milwaukee. “Music is a universal language which bridges and transcends cultures,” Julilly remarked. “Study at the String Academy is a wonderful way to bring together these different cultures. The scholarship program now is special and it is accomplishing goals that are unique. This uniqueness has been recognized by granting organizations and private donors who have renewed their commitments for a second year.” (Major funding has been given by the City of Milwaukee’s Arts Board and the Milwaukee Foundation.)
Julilly feels that the person who seriously listens to music is almost an “endangered species.” “People rarely sit and listen, giving the music one’s entire attention. Children and their parents who are willing to do the serious work of studying a stringed instrument are not only disciplining and refining their own abilities and gaining something that will be part of their lives forever, but are continuing to weave the fragile tapestry of our cultural heritage, so that it may be fashioned and handed down to other generations.”
Darcy Drexler
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