CIM Announces Five New Full-Ride Scholarships

The Cleveland Institute of Music announced today that an unprecedented five new full-ride scholarships will be awarded to students entering in fall 2020. These awards include tuition, room, board and fees, and allow the recipients to focus exclusively on learning and performing while students – without the worry of debt after graduating. This will be welcome news for the more than 600 of the world’s most talented classical music students descending on Cleveland for auditions next month, the result of a record-setting application cycle and a rigorous, highly selective pre-screening round.

These five full-ride scholarships are the result of incredible generosity by CIM’s donors, as well as a decade-long creative partnership with Cleveland-based Judson Senior Living.

“Conservatories across the country and around the world compete fiercely for exceptional students,” explains CIM President & CEO Paul W. Hogle. “At CIM, we’re working tirelessly to ensure that this coveted education also remains affordable, so that students can study with our esteemed faculty of leading pedagogues, teaching artists and members of The Cleveland Orchestra as they prepare to be the future of classical music.”

The latest achievement in CIM becoming even more selective and more affordable began with lowering tuition by 15% for the incoming class of 2018 and holding tuition at that level today. CIM is strategically reducing the size of the student body over the next decade, making the Institute more competitive, creating a better student experience, and allowing scholarship dollars to go further. Since 2016, scholarships awarded to incoming CIM students have increased by 11% and, over the next decade, CIM has committed to adding $40 million in support of this affordability initiative.

The Mary Hamlin Memorial Presidential Scholarship – CIM’s first endowed full-ride scholarship – was established in 2018 by Dr. Clive Hamlin in honor of his late wife. Violinist Shannon Lee (Laredo/Sloman), the inaugural recipient, graduates in May, making the award available in 2020.

The other four awards all cover room, board and fees through their funding sources; for this incoming class, each award will be paired with an existing full tuition scholarship.

A generous gift from Trustee C. Thomas Harvie and his wife Iris Harvie, a member of the CIM Women’s Committee, establishes the first Director’s Award scholarship, which provides room, board and fees for a deserving student. The newest gift to the endowed scholarship fund brings the total to $14.2 million raised in the past 18 months.

Thomas Harvie is retired from the Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company in Akron, where he most recently served as senior vice president, general counsel and secretary. In addition to CIM, he has been a member of the boards of the Cleveland Opera, Hiram College, the Akron Art Museum and the Blossom Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra. Iris Harvie is a Resident Trustee of The Cleveland Orchestra, chair of the Blossom Committee of The Cleveland Orchestra and a member of the President’s Council of the Cleveland International Piano Competition. Previously, she has served as chair of The Volunteer Council of The Cleveland Orchestra and chair of the state-wide Blossom Women’s Committee (now Blossom Friends); she also participates in several other philanthropic activities in Northeast Ohio. The couple resides in Hudson, Ohio.

“Iris and Tom recognize the importance of guaranteeing that students have access to the complete range of learning experiences that make a CIM education so powerful,” Hogle said. “Their investment in us helps to place within our reach the ambitious goals we’ve set forth to help more talented musicians attend their top choice of CIM.”

The second award is funded by the early payment of a significant portion of the gift made in 2019 by Board of Trustees Chair Richard J. Hipple and his wife Jean Hipple. When the gift is paid in full, it will be converted to a full-tuition Dean’s Scholarship – the first in school history.

The final two awards are the result of an inventive partnership with Judson Senior Living. Established in 2010, the Judson Artist-in-Residence Program has openings for two students to live and work in the Judson Manor senior community. This program – highly lauded by press from The New York Times to the CBS Evening News – provides furnished apartments for student musicians in exchange for them offering performances and cultural programming for residents at all three Northeast Ohio Judson properties. Artists-in-Residence are typically graduate students with a special interest in creating intergenerational connections that inspire the community; only students who applied for the program will be considered.

“Reducing student debt is a high priority for us. We do not want cost to be a barrier for anyone interested in pursuing their education at CIM,” said Jerrod Price, associate dean of enrollment management and executive director of preparatory, enrollment and pathway programs. “CIM offers students unparalleled musical training, education and performance opportunities during their time here. These new full-ride scholarships will enable five outstanding young artists to make the pursuit of their dreams a reality.”

Photo by Robert Muller.