Monday, April 29th, was another magical fundraiser for the Bruce Montgomery Foundation for the Arts. Held at the 2300 Arena in South Philadelphia, our five 2024 Springboard Grant Winners received their $2,500 awards and described how they planned to use them.
Our silent auction delighted attendees with tickets to wonderful shows and concerts, dining experiences at many fine restaurants, vacation houses in South Carolina and Maine, sports memorabilia, and more. A delicious dinner was provided by 12th Street Catering. Topping off the evening was the return of New York producer Stephen DeAngelis, introducing a spectacular cabaret by three Broadway stars, accompanied by Asher Denberg, one of today’s finest music directors. The stars were Kennedy Caughell (Carole King in Beautiful: the Carole King Musical and Elphaba in Wicked), Major Attaway (the longest running Genie in Aladdin), and Ta-Tynise Wilson (Schuyler sister-standby, and Angelica in Hamilton).
CYRANO JETT ROSENTRATER: (violinist) Philadelphia, PA
Cyrano Jett Rosentrater, age 16, received the special Peter Benoliel & Willo Carey Grant, inaugurated last year for an exceptionally talented violinist. He began playing the violin at the age of 4, and is currently a student of Kimberly Fisher, Principal Second Violinist of the Philadelphia Orchestra. He attends the J.R. Masterman High School and is a Primavera Artist and member of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. He was the recipient of the SPHINX MPower Grant in 2022 and the Marian Anderson Grant for Young Artists in 2018. As a virtuoso violinist, he is equally passionate as a talented composer, and has won many grants and competitions. His compositions have also been performed in several prestigious festivals. Cyrano always wishes to be curious, never stop learning, and inspire emotion in his audiences. He is well on his way to a brilliant career.
ISABELLA AMADA: (Bassist & Composer) Philadelphia, PA
Isabella Amada, a classically-trained upright bass player, is also proficient on the electric bass. She is a senior Instrumental Performance major at The University of the Arts, with a growing concentration on jazz. As a player, composer, and vocalist, she has already performed with some impressive groups, including the No Name Pops, and the Carraways, led by 2022 Spring Board Grant Winner Lonnie Davis. Some of you may recall her memorable performance as the bass accompanist for saxophonist Olivia Hughart, our 2020 Springboard Grant winner. Isabella intends to use her grant to compose and perform a new ensemble work, which we look forward to hearing at next year’s Winners Showcase.
JULIO MARTIN-NAVAS: (Cellist) Abington, PA
Julio Martin-Navas, is an 11th grader at Abington High School. He began to study cello at Settlement Music School at age 7, also concentrating on piano and music theory. He has attended many summer festivals, including Center Stage String at the University of Michigan, and the Sphinx Performance Academy at the Cleveland Institute of Music. He has held the principal cello position in both the Philharmonia Orchestra of the Youth Orchestra of Bucks County, and the Philadelphia Young Artist Orchestra. Julio joined the Gloria dePasquali Studio in 2022 and has regularly performed in solo recitals and as part of Settlement Music School’s Chamber Music Program. He is also a member of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra.
SOPHIA NAM: (Violist) Fort Lee, NJ
Sophia Nam is a 17-year-old violist from Fort Lee, New Jersey, currently studying at the Juilliard Pre-College as a viola major, and also attending Bergen County Academies. She started playing violin at age 4 and switched to viola at 12. She has spent her last two summers at the Perlman Music Program on Shelter Island, and also attended Perlman’s Winter Residency in Sarasota, Florida. She has won numerous awards, is an avid chamber musician, and is currently the violist in the Solare String Quartet. She was the winner of the National Young Arts Competition, and the 2022 Grand Prize winner of the New York Laureate International Music Competition. She has also taken the stage at Carnegie Hall, Lincoln Center’s Alice Tulley Hall, the Sarasota Opera House, and John Philip Sousa US Band Hall.
MIRO RAJ: (Violinist) Philadelphia, PA
Miro Raj is an eleventh-grade violinist and has been playing for ten years, beginning at the age of six. Currently, he studies with Mr. Lee Snyder at the Settlement Music School. He is a member of the Braverman String Quartet and is Associate Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra. He was awarded first prize in the Main Line Symphony Orchestra, the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra, and Philadelphia International Music Festival concerto competitions. He has also performed as soloist with the Virginia Beach Symphony, Main Line Symphony, and the Philadelphia Young Artists Orchestra. In masterclasses, he has played for award-winning violinists such as Randall Goosby, David Kim, Julliette Kang, Rachel Barton-Pine, and Paul Kantor.
Following tradition, last year’s five winners returned to the Arena to give brilliant performances and explain how their grants provided a “springboard” to a new level of excellence.
First on the program was Kai Freeman, violinist, who won the inaugural Peter Benoliel & Willo Carey award last year. Kai is now the Assistant Concertmaster of the Philadelphia Youth Orchestra, and recently played Mendelsohn’s Violin Concerto as guest soloist with the Delaware County Orchestra.
Next on the program was Amelia Moss, a talented young singer and actress with dreams of making it to Broadway. Amelia is a freshman at Ithaca College and was cast in Ithaca’s Spring Show last weekend as a freshman. She sent a wonderful video, describing how she used her grant to facilitate the costly audition process necessary for applying to music schools and conservatories. She sang (accompanied by fellow student Jason Kanabay) “Journey to the Past” from Anastasia to a wildly enthusiastic audience.
Kamani Abu, an exciting dancer, is a third-year student in the Alvin Ailey/Fordham University Bachelor of Fine Arts Dance Program. He has already performed professionally with the Alvin Ailey Company and the Dance Theater of Harlem. His choreography skills are as impressive as his dancing, and his performance to the song “Ain’t No Way” by Carolyn Franklin mesmerized the audience at 2300!
Next up was Luke Christopher Baron, a Classical Pianist/Composer who has just been accepted as a freshman Composition major at Juilliard in the fall. Luke has won several piano competitions and attended the Young Artist Program for Composition at Boston University’s Tanglewood Institute in summer 2023. A winner of the 2022 Sound Symphony Concerto Competition, he made his solo debut playing Mozart’s Concerto No. 13, for which he wrote and performed original cadenzas. During the past two summers Luke attended the Kinhaven Music School in Vermont, where he performed and debuted two original chamber works.
Irina Rostomashvili, an exciting violinist, was the final 2023 Springboard Grant performer. She was born and raised in Georgia, where she began her musical career by attending Tbilisi’s Zakaria Paliashvili Central Music School for Gifted Children. She participated in numerous festivals and won many competitions in her native country as she was growing up. She emigrated to the United States to attend the Boyer College of Music and Dance at Temple University, where she quickly made a name for herself as a soloist. Irina won an internship at the Curtis Institute and also plays with the Vox Amadeus Orchestra and the Philadelphia String Quartet. She recently became a violin instructor at the Nellie Berman School of Music.
As always, we send our sincere thanks for your support. We will let you know when you can access the video of this year’s gala, so please stay tuned!
With warmest regards,
Liz Montgomery Thomas
Executive Director
Vicki Thomas Pohl
Chairman of the Board
