In 1973, Joseph Fischoff and members of the South Bend Chamber Music Society founded the Fischoff National Chamber Music Competition as a unique way to encourage young music students to study chamber music. Forty-seven years after that inaugural six-ensemble competition, the Fischoff played host to 130 ensembles from 3 continents, and is known by chamber music aficionados worldwide as the largest, longest-running chamber music competition in the United States.
For all its success, the Fischoff continues to distinguish itself from other music competitions by remaining true to its core mission of educating young musicians and encouraging them to study chamber music. They do this in part through their Arts-in-Education Residencies. During these residencies, distinguished alumni musicians provide innovative free workshops, master classes, and interactive concerts over five intense days, reaching up to 2000 students from local Title 1 schools each year.
The Fischoff submitted a grant proposal in December 2020 designed to support their Arts-in-Education residencies in 2021 and 2022. The Foundation approved their request, citing the long, successful history of this educational initiative targeting underserved student populations in our area. Food waste and hunger are two issues that are inextricably linked in America. Americans waste approximately 40% of their food, yet nearly 55 million people in this country are food insecure, meaning they don’t know where their next meal is coming from. Cultivate Culinary School and Catering, Inc. is devoted to organizing our community resources to fight hunger through food rescue, the collection and re-distribution of unserved, prepared food.
