Robert Carwithen Music Foundation Scholarship
Established in 2003, the Robert Carwithen Music Foundation is a non-profit organization to further the musical education of qualified recipients of its scholarships and grants. The RCMF was established in order to acknowledge Robert Carwithen's supporters throughout his career, and to continue that legacy of giving .The RCM was also designed to encourage organists to use their musical skills and knowledge in the church. Recipients of RCMF awards are enrolled at participating universities—Curtis Institute of Music, Eastman School of Music, Wheaton College Conservatory of Music, and the Jacobs School of Music at Indiana University.
Robert Carwithen, Chairman of the Board for the Robert Carwithen Music Foundation, is himself an organist, choral conductor, carillonneur, church musician, composer/arranger, and performer. He attended the Curtis Institute of Music for his undergraduate studies and Westminster Choir College for graduate studies in conducting. His numerous teachers have included Madaleine Duruflé-Chevalier, Xavier Darasse, Virgil Fox, Vladimir Sokoloff, and André Isoir. Carwithen was on the faculty at Westminster for more than 45 years, and later taught at Philadelphia Biblical University. As a church musician, he performed at First Presbyterian (Germantown), Wayne Presbyterian (Wayne), First Presbyterian (Philadelphia), and Tenth Presbyterian (Philadelphia). In Philadelphia for three years, he served as the Wanamaker Organist in 1962-65. As a carilloneur, Carwithen served as the Music Director and recording artist for Schulmerich Carillons, and performed for the World's Fair three times in Brussels, Seattle, and New York.
The Jacobs School of Music is honored to award the Robert Cartwithen Music Foundation Scholarship to Organ students who study church music at the Jacobs School.