Saturday, April 28th was a magical evening at the Bruce Montgomery Foundation for the Arts’ annual Springboard Grant Winners Showcase, held at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia.
This gala fundraiser featured the announcement of BMFA’s 2023 Springboard Grant winners, four mesmerizing performances by last year’s 2022 talented winners, and was topped off by the return of New York producer Stephen DeAngelis, hosting a brilliant cabaret featuring live performances by three Broadway Stars, accompanied by world-renowned Music Director, Asher Denberg.
Peter Benoliel and Willo Carey
A highlight of the evening was the celebration of philanthropists Peter Benoliel and Willo Carey, for their legendary support of the arts in Philadelphia and of BMFA over many years.
Benoliel, who served as the first Chairman of the Board for BMFA, was a longtime friend of Bruce Montgomery. “Bruce was the much-admired leader of 10 musical groups at the University of Pennsylvania, of which the Penn Glee Club was the most renowned… He inspired many young students to pursue careers in the performing arts, and it is clearly appropriate that a foundation be committed to the perpetuation of his vision,” Peter said. This year, a new, fifth Springboard Grant was inaugurated “in honor of Peter Benoliel and Willo Carey.”
The evening began with the announcement of this year’s $2500 Springboard Grant Winners.
KAI FREEMAN: (violinist) Wilmington, DE
Kai Freeman is a 9th grader at Haddonfield Memorial High School. He is currently a member of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra and is part of the Braverman String Quartet as a scholarship recipient in the Settlement Music School’s Advanced Study Program. In the 2021-22 season, Kai was the concertmaster of the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra and won the ensemble’s Eighth Annual Young Artists Solo Competition with his performance of Mendelssohn’s Violin Concerto. This season, he will appear as soloist with the Ambler Symphony and Warminster Symphony. In November 2022 Kai was the first-place winner in the Junior division of New Jersey Music Teachers Association’s Young Musicians Competition. In previous seasons, he has participated in a number of ensembles including PRYSM and PRYSM Young Artists, the Chamber Players Orchestra at Temple University’s Center for Gifted Young Musicians, the All-South Jersey String Ensemble, and the Settlement Music School Pre-Advanced Study Program’s Trimingham Piano Trio.
This summer, Kai has been invited to join the Verbier Festival Junior Orchestra in Switzerland and will return to the Violin Workshop at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute. In past summers Kai has attended Carnegie Hall’s NYO2 program, the Violin Workshop at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute, Heifetz Program for Exceptionally Gifted, the Mann Center’s All City Orchestra Summer Academy, Point Counterpoint, the Philadelphia International Music Festival, and the inaugural Suzuki Conventions of the Americas in Cancun, Mexico. Kai began playing the violin at the age of four under Gerry Rice and currently studies with Amy Oshiro-Morales of The Philadelphia Orchestra. He has also studied with J Freivogel of the Jasper String Quartet and Francesca de Pasquale. Aside from playing the violin, Kai plays trumpet and enjoys reading and watching movies.
KAMANI ABU: (Dancer) New Castle, DE
Kamani Abu is originally from New Castle, Delaware, first began exploring movement during his first year of high school in 2017 as a member of the dance team at his school. He first began learning the styles of hip hop as well as majorette. After his first year on the team, Kamani found his passion for dance and began his formal training in the fall of 2018 as a scholarship student at Pieces of a Dream, a modern-based studio, under the direction of Ashley SK. Davis in Wilmington, Delaware. He continued his training there throughout his high school career and became the 2020 scholarship recipient for Wilmington Ballet Academy of the Dance in Wilmington, Delaware under the direction of Benjamin Sterling Cannon and Christopher Davis.
After graduating from high school Kamani was accepted into and is currently pursuing his Bachelor of Fine Arts (BFA) in dance at the Alvin Ailey/Fordham University BFA program in New York City. Kamani also has created original works for Wilmington Ballet, was named “Delaware’s Teen Idol” for the year 2021, and was selected as a participant in the Camille A. Brown and Dancer’s mentorship program this past summer. After graduating from college he hopes to join a dance company where he can continue to strengthen his artistry as well as continue to choreograph works to be shown. After performing, he hopes to become a dance teacher and pass along the knowledge he learns from his experiences onto the next generation of dancers. He aspires to allow his gift and love for dance to guide him, leaving an impact on himself and those around him.
LUKE CHRISTOPHER BARON: (Pianist/Composer) Narberth, PA
Luke Christopher Baron, age 17, is a composer and pianist currently attending Juilliard Pre-college for composition. There he studies with Dr. Manuel Sosa and attends the Advanced Seminar for Musical Analysis. He also participates in the NY Youth Symphony Composition program through which he has had works read by the DeCoda and the Grammy-award-winning New York Youth Symphony orchestras and performed by the NYYS Traumerei Clarinet quintet and organist Jae Lee. Luke will be attending the Young Artist Program for Composition at BU Tanglewood Institute in summer 2023.
A winner of the 2022 Sound Symphony Concerto Competition he made his solo debut playing Mozart Concerto No. 13, for which wrote and performed original cadenzas. An avid collaborative pianist, Luke spent the past two summers at Kinhaven Music School where he performed works spanning Quantz to Hindemith and debuted two original chamber
AMELIA MOSS: (Mezzo/Alto) Philadelphia, PA
Amelia Moss is a senior honors student at Cab Calloway School of the Arts in Wilmington Delaware, where she is a vocal and musical theatre major, also studying acting. Her passion for theatre started in 2015, when just for fun she tagged along to one of her older brother’s auditions. Without meaning to, she landed the featured role of Young Cosette in Les Miserables, and she hasn’t stopped performing since. Amelia has performed in over 30 productions, including performances at Longwood Gardens with The Brandywiners, and a holiday performance at Radio City Music Hall. Amelia has been a vocal student of Betsy Connor and Marian Healy for eight years and has studied dance at DelArts Conservatory. She’s won first place awards in both the Greater Philadelphia and the Eastern Region NATS competitions, and was recently named one of CS Music’s All State Singers in their 2023 national competition.
Other national credits include a commercial campaign for Lutron Electronics and an original musical podcast series for children by Donamar Productions. Amelia was a merit scholarship participant in Broadway Dreams Summer Intensives in 2021 and 2022 and was twice awarded the Cab Calloway Fund Scholarship for summer arts training. Amelia frequently lends her talents to her local community, performing in fundraisers for arts and service organizations, and as a mentor and performer for “Art Works for Everyone” (formerly VSA), a non-profit which provides educational experiences in the arts for children and adults with disabilities. Most recently she had the opportunity to teach and direct students at a high-needs elementary school in their first theatrical production.
Amelia plans to earn a BFA in Musical Theater in college and pursue a performing arts career. She intends to use the springboard grant funding for additional training and quality recording equipment for future self-tape auditions.
IRINA ROSTOMASHVILI: (Violinist) Tbilisi, GA
Irina Rostomashvili was born and raised in Tbilisi, Georgia. She was accepted to Tbilisi’s Zakaria Paliashvili Central Music School for Gifted Children in 2006. As a student, she participated in multiple music festivals and competitions including the 2015 Future Stars festival, where she was awarded the Diploma for Best Performance, and the 2017 National Music Competition of Georgia, where she won the First Prize. Irina has performed multiple times with the Tbilisi Opera and Ballet Theatre Orchestra, Georgian Philharmonic Orchestra, and Tbilisi Symphony Orchestra as a soloist. In addition, she participated in the Telavi International Music Festival as an orchestra member in the 2017-2018 season. In 2018, Irina was accepted into the Tbilisi State Conservatoire for Bachelor Music Performance, and by early 2019 was the Associate Concertmaster in the Tbilisi Youth Orchestra. She was selected as a concertmaster of the Tbilisi state conservatory’s student orchestra during her freshman year. In 2019, Irina participated in the International Summer Academy in Castelnuovo Di Garfagnana, Italy, where she won 1st Prize in the International String Competition, Senior division. Additionally, she was accepted to the Artist Diploma Program in Dr. Schmieder’s studio at the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University. In 2021, Irina was selected by the Temple instrumental department to be the recipient of The Helen Kwalwasser Prize and Garrigues foundation scholarship. Also, she was the winner of the Temple University Concerto Competition in 2021 and performed Shostakovich Violin Concerto No.1 with Temple University Orchestra. During the summer of 2021, she was invited to perform solo and chamber concerts in San Diego and Los Angeles at the iPalpiti festival. In 2022, Irina made her solo debut with Ambler Symphony Orchestra and Old York Symphony Orchestra. She participated in the Curtis Institute internship and worked in the Curtis Symphony Orchestra. Irina is a violinist in the Vox Amadeus Orchestra, Philadelphia String Quartet, and violin instructor at the Nelly Berman School of Music.
BMFA’s Springboard Grant Winners are always asked to return to our gala the following year, so that they can perform for our attendees and let them know how they benefitted from Springboard Grant. Please follow us on Facebook to stay up to date with our winners’ accomplishments. We hope to see you at next year’s Winners Showcase!
THANK YOU for your support!
Liz Montgomery Thomas
Executive Director
Vicki Thomas Pohl
Chairman of the Board
