Every Decision You Make Changes A Path

The Cleveland Institute of Music, nestled in the culture-rich University Circle, provides world-class opportunities—opportunities to work with some of the top faculty in the world, to study at conservatories abroad, or to receive coaching from masters in Shanghai without ever leaving the building. Opportunities to perform in schools, hospitals and senior centers throughout the region but also on the stage of Severance Hall, home of The Cleveland Orchestra. And beyond superb music education, the opportunity to take humanities classes at Case Western Reserve University, one of the top liberal arts universities in the country. There are so many opportunities; the only question is which path our students will choose.

Your decision to give to the CIM Annual Fund can change the path; for a child helped by a CIM outreach program; for an audience member, inspired by a performance on-campus or in a senior center; or for a student who is able to pursue their goals as a musician and share their music with others.

Senior and SGA President Susan Bengtson, is involved in many aspects of campus life while remaining dedicated to her viola studies as she pursues a Bachelor of Music. She’s taking classes that range from 18th Century Counterpoint to pedagogy to chamber music, and is also completing a political science minor through CIM’s relationship with CWRU. Bengtson is applying not just to graduate schools but also for a Fulbright Scholarship. And she also, in her free time, teaches a number of viola students, including one from the Cleveland School of the Arts.

“The decisions that brought me to CIM and led me to participate in many of the extracurricular opportunities available to students have allowed me to flourish as a musician and engaged citizen,” says Bengtson. “When potential students ask me what’s best about CIM, I tell them that after four years, they will have made more progress than they ever thought possible by working with the best teachers in their fields. Every decision you make changes your path. My decision to contact CIM altered the course of my life as a musician.”

Thank you for changing the paths of music-lovers from Northeast Ohio and around the world. cim.edu/donatenow

Gifts are tax-deductible in the US to the extent allowed by law. To be included on your 2015 return, gifts must be made before midnight ET on 12/31/2015.

Photo By Roger Mastroianni