New York (PRWEB) June 13, 2006 -- The Apogee Foundation, a New York nonprofit dedicated to the development of human excellence in the performing arts, today announced that it is providing eight Excellence Awards to students and instructors of the historic Stolyarsky State Music School in Odessa, Ukraine's leading institution for the training of gifted young musicians, and that it also is providing its The Cherkassy Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts to the most promising musician at the Demutsky State Music School, the leading school for gifted musicians in central Ukraine.

Detailed information describing all of Apogee's award programs in both English and Russian can be found on the Foundation's website at: http://www.ApogeeFoundation.org/awards/index.php and http://www.ApogeeFoundation.org/r_awards/r_index.php

The newly announced 2005/2006 Apogee Merit Scholars selected by this jury are: Akim Anum-Dorhuso (piano), Vladislav Agramakov (piano), Yanina Sharopanovskaya (violin), Sergey Maiboroda (violin), Olga Zadorojnuk (piano), Alexander Lisuk (cello), and Sergey Nikituk (piano). Another set of awards is to be provided later this year at a festival to be jointly conducted by Apogee and the Ministry of Culture, where gifted musicians from throughout the entire Odessa Province as well as Apogee laureates from other nations will participate.

Apogee also announced that it has awarded the inaugural Stolyarsky Honorarium for Excellence in Education, a special edition of the Foundation's Achievement Award named in honor of the founder of the Stolyarsky School, Peter S. Stolyarsky, to the school's senior cello instructor, Pavel G. Kupin.

In addition to its Excellence Awards, the Foundation provides Regional Awards to world class performing artists from designated geopolitical regions. Receiving the inaugural Cherkassy Award for Excellence in the Performing Arts is Bogdan Dekhtyaruk, a 13 year old trumpet prodigy and grand prize winnder of multiple national and international competitions.

Yuri Kuznetsov, Minister of Culture for the Odessa Province of Ukraine, said: "The Apogee Foundation is a welcome partner in fulfilling our aim of achieving excellence in the performing arts throughout our province, our nation, and the world. We look forward to building a brighter future together for talented artists and for everyone who benefits from empowering them to fulfill their potential."

Apogee President Kenneth Schneider said: “Ukraine's traditions of producing world class performing artists are as great as those of any nation on Earth, and it is a great privilege to collaborate with these institutions which have played such an important role in such a magnificent history, and to insure that they will continue to thrive in the new millennium.”

Both English and Russian language versions of this news release with full photographic content, as well as printer friendly and PDF formats, can be found at: http://www.ApogeeFoundation.org/awareness/press/pr060613.php and http://www.ApogeeFoundation.org/r_awareness/r_press/r_pr060613.php

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