As its fifth season offering quality arts education and innovative performances drew to a close, SoBe Institute of the Arts (SoBe Arts) received amazing and wonderful news: the donation of $75,000 from the LeRoy Schecter Foundation, to purchase a Steinway concert grand piano in honor of Ms. Ottavia McLaughlin. "Thanks to this very generous gift, SoBe Arts will continue to provide exceptional professional piano concerts to the general public, as well as motivate talented young piano students," states Dr. Carson Kievman, SoBe Arts Founder and Executive Artistic Director.
One of these young musicians is Angel Perez. A SoBe Arts scholarship student for only three years, who last October, at the age of twelve, opened the concert season for the Brampton (Canada) Symphony with a Mozart piano concerto. Two weeks ago, on the eve of his thirteenth birthday, Angel was able to perform his first solo recital on this magnificent instrument to an enthusiastic theater-full of parents, friends and community members.
In recognition of this donation, the SoBe Arts Board of Directors, professional teaching artists and students will be presenting a check from the LeRoy Schecter Foundation to representatives of Steinway & Sons and dedicating the piano to Ms. McLaughlin. The press and special guests are invited. The evening will also include a short concert by faculty pianists Robert Chumbley and Adam Chefitz, followed by a champagne reception.
About SoBe Institute of the Arts (SoBe Arts):
The mission of SoBe Institute of the Arts, a nonprofit organization, is to promote excellence, creativity, and accessibility of the arts through performance events and arts instruction of the highest quality, in music and related artistic disciplines. Since its founding five years ago, SoBe Arts has established a unique arts complex in the historic Carl Fisher Clubhouse and adjoining Little Stage Theater, located in a park-like setting between the Miami Beach Botanical Gardens and the Miami City Ballet.
