Mitzi Koo (辜林瑞慧), wife of CTBC Financial Holding Co (中信金控) founder Jeffrey Koo Sr (辜濂松), invited winners of the Mitzi Foundation Scholarship at the Juilliard School of Music to perform at the Ambassador Hotel on Dec. 15 in the hope that the music would inspire people to give to the Children Charity Association and help children with deafness.
Now in its 26th year, the charity concert and banquet began when Mitzi Koo and a few friends organized a family concert in 1993 to help raise funds for nursery school children.
The Children Charity Association now uses musical rhythm courses to boost the confidence of hearing-impaired children, improving their lives from the hospital to school. More than 2,000 children have been helped this year.
Photo courtesy of the Children Charity Association
The scholarship winners, pianist Evan Shinners and baritone Aeneas Humm, performed a concert that included Jeffrey Koo Sr’s favorite, the traditional Irish folk song Danny Boy.
Humm, who was visiting Taiwan for the first time, said that Mitzi Koo provided him with a lot of assistance during his music studies, adding that he now has the opportunity to use his talent to help others.
During the banquet, Humm sang Happy Birthday to You to Mitzi Koo, who told the musicians that the rendition was the best birthday present she had ever received.
Continuing Jeffrey Koo Sr’s efforts to give back to society, Mitzi Koo in 1993 founded the Mitzi Foundation, which has for many years provided scholarships to students at the Juilliard School of Music to encourage and nurture potential talent while raising the international visibility of Taiwan.
Many recipients of the Mitzi Foundation Scholarship are talented musicians who have made an international name for themselves, such as tenor Anthony Dean Griffery, harpist Jessica Zhou (周黎), violinist Michael Laro and English horn player Andrea Overturf.
“Those who are capable should do more, and I take pleasure in using music to build a platform of love, care and concern that can give outstanding talent an international stage and influence,” Mitzi Koo said.
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