In its 20 years, the Benjamin Carlson-Berne Scholarship Fund has provided around $1 million to middle and high school students who want to take private music lessons but can’t afford them. A new partnership with the College-Conservatory of Music’s Prep Division at the University of Cincinnati will ensure the fund’s future and expand its mission.
The fund was created in 2004 by Susan Carlson-Berne and husband Phil Berne to honor the memory of their son, Ben. He died at 19 while hiking in the Grand Tetons the summer after his freshman year at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he was majoring in piano performance and international studies.
Unlike many programs to help young musicians, these scholarships aren’t reserved for budding virtuosos. They are awarded to students in middle or high school who have demonstrated a love for classical music and a desire to become more proficient on their instrument. If recipients continue to demonstrate commitment, money for lessons will be there until they graduate from high school. So far, 81% of scholarship recipients have continued lessons until graduation.
“It’s a pretty amazing average, but it means so much to them, knowing that the money will be there,” Susan said.
To date, scholarship recipients have attended the School for Creative and Performing Arts, Withrow and Shroder middle and high schools, all of which have student orchestras.
The new arrangement with CCM solves several issues. “I never envisioned the fund would go on this long or how it has continued to grow,” Susan said. “At some point, I realized we have to do some planning, because I’m getting too old to do all I’ve always done to keep it going.”
Susan turned to Anne Cushing-Reid, assistant dean of CCM’s Prep Division. The two had worked together when the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra administered the fund.
“The timing was perfect,” Cushing-Reid said. “One of our goals is to reach out to students in the community, rather than always expect them to come to campus.” In other words, to remove barriers. Transportation can be a big one.
“Musicians, mostly CCM masters and doctoral students, will go to SPCA, Shroder and Withrow to give private lessons to scholarship recipients,” Cushing-Reid explained. “My hope is that the Prep program can expand the scholarship offerings to even more Cincinnati Public Schools, do summer camps and connect scholarship recipients with other playing opportunities.”
To better understand the fund’s mission, it’s necessary to know about its inspiration, Ben Carlson-Berne, because the ripple effect of who he was during his brief life has changed so many other young lives.
Ben’s empathy for less fortunate kids was only exceeded by his love of classical music. At age 3, Susan and Phil realized that their son had an affinity for it when he started keeping time to music. That led to piano lessons at age 5 with Atarah Jablonski, then later with Elizabeth Pridonoff at CCM as Ben’s musical skills grew.
During his junior year at Wyoming High School, Ben had to do a community project. He had realized that inner-city kids were never exposed to classical music, knew nothing about it and assumed it wasn’t for them. “His reasoning was that if they could just hear it, some might grow to love it as much as he did or at least gain a real appreciation,” Susan said. As it turned out, Ben was onto something.
The site for Ben’s project was the former Arts Consortium of Cincinnati in the West End. He started by merely playing classical recordings for kids there, but Ben knew it was important that they hear him play, too. The organization didn’t have a piano, so Ben put out the word and someone donated a piano.
“We rented a U-Haul, which I drove, and Ben got some of his buddies to help move it down there,” Susan said, smiling.
It didn’t stop there. Some of the kids wanted to study piano, so Ben gave them free lessons. “Then he realized they needed pianos at home so they could practice,” Susan said.
More donated pianos, U-Haul rentals and drafting friends to help move them. “One place was a third-floor walkup in Over-the-Rhine, and all the residents of the building came out to help us get it up the stairs.”
When Susan and Phil were ready to do something to honor Ben’s memory, it wasn’t hard to figure out how they would focus their efforts.
Susan is quick to say that the scholarship fund wouldn’t have made it beyond its first year if it hadn’t been for people who stepped forward all along the way to offer help, dollars and expertise. It began when Ben’s friend, professional violist Jessica Bodner, played a recital in his memory, raising money for that first scholarship.
“Once people saw that we were providing classical music lessons to underserved kids, which no one else was doing at the time, they just brought us along.”
And now the vision is about to get even bigger.
For Susan, the bottom line is clear: “When kids invest in music, they grow in so many different ways.”
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