BMI Foundation Receives $250,000 Donation; First Evelyn Buckstein Scholarship Awarded

The BMI Foundation, Inc .has announced that Evelyn Buckstein, BMI Assistant Vice President and Counsel and BMI Foundation Board Member, has established an endowed fund of $250,000 to create the Evelyn Buckstein Scholarship program.  This bequest, the largest single donation in the Foundation’s 22-year history, will provide scholarships for talented students attending college in the New York City area who hope to become professional songwriters, composers, performers or music teachers.

In announcing the new program, BMI Foundation President Ralph N. Jackson said, “Evelyn Buckstein is one of the most caring and generous people that I know.  Through her work as an attorney at BMI spanning decades, she has assisted the careers of thousands of songwriters and composers, and now, with this program, she has created a lasting legacy which will help young musicians for years to come.”  In addition to the new scholarships, Evelyn Buckstein previously established the Foundation’s Jerry Harrington Musical Theatre Awards, an annual program to acknowledge outstanding creative achievement of participants in the BMI Lehman Engel Musical Theatre Workshop.

The recipient of the first Evelyn Buckstein Scholarship is Charmel Rogers, a junior music major at City College of New York (CCNY).  Rogers, who is a primarily self-taught guitarist and keyboardist, will receive a full tuition scholarship for the 2007-8 academic year.  After years of performing experience, Rogers has chosen to return to school in the CCNY jazz program to deepen his musicianship and be exposed to new ideas, including composing.

The BMI Foundation, Inc. is a not-for-profit corporation founded in 1985 to support the creation, performance, and study of music through awards, scholarships, commissions and grants. Tax-deductible donations to the Foundation come primarily from songwriters, composers and publishers, BMI employees and members of the public with a special interest in music. Because both the Foundation staff and the distinguished members of the Advisory Panel serve without compensation, over 95% of all donations and income are used for charitable grants.