Like most renowned musicians, Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s Ayako Yonetani has been defined by her artistry. However, it is her gift for teaching that led a local benefactor to establish a scholarship in her name.<\/p>\n
Judy Duda, chair of the Dean\u2019s Executive Council for Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s College of Arts and Humanities and (CAH) a local arts patron, endowed the fund as a way to encourage others to support Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s music program.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy intent was to support the University\u2019s comprehensive campaign, but I am also passionate about music and attracting talented young musicians. This was a way to serve both needs,\u201d Duda said.<\/p>\n
Duda met Yonetani 20 years ago. Yonetani had come to Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ from the Julliard School of Music and Duda was coordinator for the Concert Series at St. Luke\u2019s Lutheran Church in Slavia.<\/p>\n
Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ did not have a concert hall and St. Luke\u2019s, less than 10 miles away, offered an acoustically appropriate setting for Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Orchestra performances. Yonetani and her students participated in these performances and Duda grew to admire the violinist\u2019s dedication to her prot\u00e9g\u00e9s.<\/p>\n
\u201cI thought Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ had a treasure in Ayako and I wanted to do what I could to help her build the string section,\u201d Duda said.<\/p>\n
Duda, who over the years developed a personal friendship with Yonetani, decided to do something to help.<\/p>\n
She contacted the Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½ Foundation and the Dean of the College of Arts & Humanities and contributed the funds necessary to establish the Ayako Yonetani Music Endowed Scholarship for violin and viola students.<\/p>\n
Yonetani learned of the scholarship following her performance for Music Department presentation at a CAH Dean\u2019s Executive Council meeting. As she was packing her violin after the performance, Dean Jos\u00e9 Fern\u00e1ndez made the surprise announcement.<\/p>\n
Yonetani said although the endowment was unexpected she is excited about the prospect of attracting more donors to help bring more of the most talented students to Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½.<\/p>\n
To contribute or for more information contact Laura Pooser at Laura.Pooser@ucf.edu \u2013 407-823-1195.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Like most renowned musicians, Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s Ayako Yonetani has been defined by her artistry. However, it is her gift for teaching that led a local benefactor to establish a scholarship in her name. Judy Duda, chair of the Dean\u2019s Executive Council for Â鶹ӳ»´«Ã½\u2019s College of Arts and Humanities and (CAH) a local arts patron, endowed the fund as a way to…","protected":false},"author":151,"featured_media":46228,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"template-twocol.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"lazy_load_responsive_images_disabled":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":"","_wp_rev_ctl_limit":""},"categories":[5,6],"tags":[399,17023,14915,3537,4163,202],"tu_author":[],"class_list":["post-46197","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-colleges","category-community","tag-ayako-yonetani","tag-college-of-arts-and-humanities","tag-music","tag-orchestra","tag-scholarships","tag-alumni"],"yoast_head":"\n