California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) School of Music Named in Recognition of Herb Alpert

California Institute of the Arts (CalArts) School of Music Named in Recognition of Herb Alpert

VALENCIA, Calif., April 9, 2008 /PRNewswire/ -- Eight-time Grammy(R) award winner and A&M Records co-founder Herb Alpert and his wife, Grammy(R)-winning vocalist Lani Hall, have made a $15 million gift to the School of Music at CalArts. President Steven D. Lavine announced that the school would be renamed The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts in recognition of this historic gift and The Herb Alpert Foundation's long-time support of CalArts. With this new $15 million endowment gift, The Herb Alpert Foundation's support of CalArts totals nearly $24 million.

Alpert recalls the moment he sensed the connection to CalArts: "I knew it the first time I walked around CalArts' campus -- I could feel the energy and passion in the air. Here was this place to take great leaps, to prepare artists to reach beyond what they know. These are artists who understand that art is what defines us -- that it has the power to transform."

"The new Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts will be a great school of musical possibilities," stated Dean David Rosenboom, who holds the Richard Seaver Distinguished Chair in Music. "This gift strengthens our leadership in music education, preparing our young musicians with the increasingly flexible and ever-broadening set of skills they need to find their original voices, realize them in today's shifting professional environment, and then offer them as gifts to our global musical culture."

"Herb and Lani stand with us in championing the individual artist, one who charts an independent creative course," said Lavine. "As artists themselves, Herb and Lani exemplify that same spirit of independent experimentation we nurture at CalArts."

"Through The Herb Alpert Foundation, we have sought to partner with organizations that focus on providing artists with unbounded opportunities," stated Rona Sebastian, president of The Herb Alpert Foundation. We are genuinely delighted to increase our support so that it can continue its innovative approach to music education."

Herb Alpert first gained fame as the celebrated trumpet player and leader of Herb Alpert & The Tijuana Brass, bringing Latin sounds into the pop music limelight in the 1960s. The co-founder of A&M records, he has five No. 1 hits, eight Grammy(R) Awards, 15 Gold and 14 Platinum albums to his name. In 2007, Herb Alpert, along with Jerry Moss, was honored with the prestigious lifetime achievement Grammy(R) Salute to Industry Icons Award.

The Herb Alpert School of Music at CalArts offers rigorous training in a unique variety of musical styles and cultures-from chamber and large ensemble repertoire to jazz idioms, from theatrical vocal works to experimental media, from the many disciplines of improvisation and composition to diverse musical traditions from around the world. This vibrant mix helps each student to expand his or her artistic and cultural horizons and develop a global, creative perspective. The school's faculty consists of innovators and leaders recognized internationally for both their unique, creative work and their vision as music educators.

This gift will endow three faculty chairs, student scholarships, and new and existing music programs. Additionally scholarship support will increase the number and range of scholarships offered to exceptional students who set the challenging pace that is vital to the school. The endowment also provides programmatic opportunities that will foster collaboration, creative exchange and entrepreneurship among the students and faculty. In addition to the new doctoral program, plans include expansion of international initiatives to increase the cultural mobility of students and faculty, performance opportunities that are critical in the development of students' abilities, exploration of closer links between music education and the liberal arts, library resources, and concert series programming. Additionally, the creation of a student-run music label will give students creative liberty and help develop their entrepreneurial skills as they gain concrete experience in the business and technology of music production.

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Source: CalArts

CONTACT: Katherine Lee Seth of CalArts, +1-661-291-3044,
kalee@calarts.edu; or Michael Jensen of Jensen Communications,
+1-626-585-9575, mj@jensencom.com, for CalArts

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Profile: International Entertainment