Alexander Ruggieri Memorial Music Scholarship – Applications Now Accepted

The Ruggieri Scholarship Committee will be awarding a college scholarship to a Southern California vocal musician in June. This award was established to honor Alexander Ruggieri—conductor, composer, and vocalist—who contributed so much to Southern California’s musical culture before his passing in 2012.
 
This $250 scholarship will be awarded to a student who: is a vocal musician; will be a college undergraduate student in the fall of 2014; is majoring or is planning to major in music; and lives in and/or attends school in Southern California.  Please note that high school seniors are also eligible to apply if they intend to enter college in the fall of 2014.  In addition, vocal musicians who are also composers are welcome to apply and have the choice of auditioning as a vocalist or submitting a manuscript.
 
Please contact RuggieriScholarship@gmail.com or 626-579-2433 for an application.  Applications will be accepted through May 25 and finalists will be auditioned in early to mid-June.  The audition will consist of a prepared solo of the applicant’s choice and a short interview with the selection panel.
 
Alexander Ruggieri (1952-2012) shared his many gifts with a number of Southern California musical organizations throughout his career.  At the time of his passing, Alex was the Music Director of the famed Gilbert and Sullivan repertory company Opera A La Carte, as well as Music Director of the 32-year old University Campus Choir in Westwood and Artistic Director of the San Gabriel Valley Choral Company. For five years he was the Artistic Director of the Los Angeles Bach Festival and for seventeen years he was Artistic Director of the Cambridge Singers in Pasadena. He frequently did Russian language coaching for, and occasionally sang with, the Los Angeles Master Chorale. He conducted numerous church choirs in the Los Angeles area, Wichita Falls, TX, and Detroit, MI, over his extensive career.
 
Alex Ruggieri was a man of talent, passion and presence. With a keen mind, a sincere and abiding love of great music, and a booming bass voice, he was an imposing figure that housed sharp wit and a kind heart. He was well-known in Southern California and well beyond, as his tenacity and deep knowledge of choral repertoire made him a sought-after conductor, coach and author. An award-winning composer, Alex was a man of many diverse passions, reading extensively and fostering interests in film, literature, science, history, sports and travel, as well as the performing arts.1
 
Mr. Ruggieri passed away in July 2012, after a two-year battle with pancreatic cancer.  
We honor his memory and his love of music with the Alexander Ruggieri Memorial Music Scholarship.  This scholarship is given annually, that his legacy live on through the continued music education of young people. 

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