About The Fund
Anil was a man who loved music. Just months before his untimely death in the World Trade Center, he expressed to his wife, Po, his desire to encourage the love of music and to provide financial assistance for talented, young musicians. To this end, the Anil T. Bharvaney Memorial Fund in Music Education has been established as an endowment fund for the Young Artist Program of Westminster Conservatory of Music.
Students between the ages of seven and eighteen may audition for admission into the Young Artist Program. Once a student enters the program, he or she will study music history, music theory, improvisation and jazz, and chamber music each Saturday throughout the school year. The Young Artist Program offers a comprehensive curriculum for talented and highly motivated music students and is taken in addition to the student's private lesson each week. Students are selected for the program based on their love of music, talent, and ability. They perform at Westminster Conservatory and throughout the Princeton community.
The Anil T. Bharvaney Memorial Fund in Music Education is an endowment fund, which provides annual support for the Young Artist Program of Westminster Conservatory of Music:
- improvisation and Jazz curriculum,
- Scholarships for deserving students, and
- enrichment activities for the program as a whole
Thanks in large part to the Bharvaney fund, Young Artist Program students were able to increase their studies of jazz and improvisation fourfold in the fund's first year. "Improvisation has been largely overlooked in the classical music student's education," commented Young Artist Program director, Alison Neely. "The great composers used improvisation daily as a cornerstone of their work, and we must educate our future musicians to return to improvisation as a source from which their own music can flow. We believe Mr. Bharvaney would have so appreciated the Young Artist Program and the doors it continues to open for our students, and we thank all those contributors who also believe in the program's work."
The Anil T. Bharvaney Memorial Fund will continue to grow over the years and will help facilitate the dreams of many young musicians. It will serve as a lasting memorial of Anil Bharvaney--of his generosity, of his desire to support young people, and of his love for music.
HOW THE FUND WAS FOUNDED
"Anil was a very generous and kind man," Anil's widow, Po recalls. "It was his idea. I just tried to carry it out." And that is exactly what she did. Within weeks after the tragedy, Po investigated area organizations, whose mission most closely matched Anil's dream. She established her husband's memorial fund to benefit the Young Artist Program of Westminster Conservatory of Music.
With the help of a Westminster Conservatory volunteer, Po sent information about this memorial fund to friends and family all over the world. She requested that gifts be sent to the Westminster Conservatory in lieu of flowers or other gifts.
Gifts have come via check and wire from all over the world, including Singapore, Japan, England, Bangkok, Hong Kong, Germany and many places throughout the United States.