240 College Scholarships Awarded by the Richard and Mica Hadar Foundation

NEW YORK - Richard Hadar, founder and chairman of the Richard and Mica Hadar Foundation, spoke at the 18th Year celebration on August 8th, 2011. Held at the Baruch Performing Arts Center in New York City, the evening included opening remarks by Richard Hadar, followed by performances by Hadar scholars.

The foundation has awarded close to 240 college scholarships since it started 18 years ago to talented students pursuing careers in the creative arts. It currently has 57 students attending undergraduate and graduate university programs. The graduation rate is 97%. Amongst the students that have graduated, many have achieved great heights in their chosen careers, and a number of them have gone on to earn doctoral degrees. Richard Hadar also stated he was very proud to see many of the graduates volunteer their time to serve as mentors for the foundation.

Richard Hadar explained that the foundation's focus was on the creative arts, because "artists have always been at the vanguard of positive change in society and no civilization has been able to survive without the vision and self identity articulated in its art." He also stressed his belief that "a student who demonstrated talent in any of the artistic fields; was accepted to a college, but needed financial assistance to attend, should be given that help."

The host for the celebration evening was Nathaniel Taylor Leach, a recent graduate from Emerson College, with a major in theater education. A gifted playwright and actor, Leach is teaching drama to elementary school students in Boston and will soon be touring with the Brown Box Theater Company, playing Sebastian in Shakespeare's Twelfth Night.

Performers for the evening included violinists Blanca Cecilia Gonzalez and Iryna Kit, opera singers Emily Buse and Julia Partyka, actors Andrew Greer and Lydia Warr, flutist Tia Roper, and graphic designer Kevin Chao. Adria Giattino read a fiction excerpt, and presented a one-act play, directed by Hadar mentor David Miller, and starring Lydia Warr, Rejinal Simon and Nurit Monacelli. The evening closed with a photo essay by Janira Martinez. A reception followed the performance.