Alpert’s ‘Helping Hand’ for Minority Musicians

Seven young musicians were named Tuesday as winners of the initial Los Angeles Philharmonic Fellowships for Excellence in Diversity, a monetary awards program to encourage minority instrumentalists to pursue orchestral careers. The program was recently established by A&M; recording executive and trumpeter Herb Alpert in association with the Los Angeles Philharmonic Assn.

Awards totaling $9,000 were awarded by Alpert and Philharmonic managing director Ernest Fleischmann. Winners included:

* Flutist Kevin Hernandez, 20, of Lincoln Heights.

* Violinists Ashley Horne, 28, of Inglewood; Linda Wang, 20, of Torrance; Michelle Kim, 17, of Glendale; and Josefina Vergara, 19, of Northridge.

* Trumpeter John Aranda, 26, of Alhambra.

In addition, an encouragement award of $500 went to violinist Danielle Charles, 20, of Los Angeles.

Winners were selected by auditions from a field of 30 applicants, who were judged by Philharmonic players and staffers. The winners said that their award money will go toward the expenses of summer music studies, tuition and the purchase of a violin bow.

The prizes, awarded in a press conference at the Charles Chaplin Sound Stage at A&M; Records, were made possible by a gift of $125,000 (over five years) from Alpert, setting up, in his words, “a matching-fund endowment in perpetuity” to help young instrumentalists from the minority community.

A one-to-one challenge grant, the award program will eventually total $250,000.

“This is a one-time helping hand for the players,” Alpert said. “It’s an opportunity and a little encouragement--what each one does with this opportunity is up to him or her.”

Alpert said the idea of funding such a project came “one night when I was watching the Philharmonic, and noticed that the orchestra lacks players of color.

“They are out there--this city has an amazing amount of talent that needs only to be given some encouragement. And a few opportunities.”

Alpert said the auditions for the awards given Tuesday were “blind auditions--held behind a screen, so the judges had no idea of the sex or color of the player.”