The Alfonso D'Emilia Scholarship Fund
(est. 1999) Alfonso D'Emilia was an accomplished clarinetist, music teacher, and performer in the Greater Cleveland area for 50 years. He taught music in the Euclid, OH Public Schools for 25 years, retiring in 1985. After retiring, he taught music for about 15 more years in the Cleveland Diocese Schools. D'Emilia was also a music teacher at the Educators Music Studios in Lakewood, OH.
Alfonso D'Emilia was born in Riccia, in the province of Campobasso, Italy, to American parents who were visiting relatives in the country. His father, Joseph, who had a shoe repair shop in Cleveland, returned to the United States and young D'Emilia stayed in Italy with his mother, Mary, until 1947. Alfonso D'Emilia began taking clarinet lessons at age 13 in Campobasso, where he was a member of his hometown band.
After coming to Cleveland, he served in the Army during the Korean War with the Army Band. After leaving the Army, he enrolled at the Indiana University Jacobs School of Music and graduated with a degree in Music Education.
In 1999 Alfonso D'Emilia, established the Alfonso D'Emilia Scholarship Fund. The Jacobs School of Music is proud to award this Scholarship to students studying Clarinet at the Jacobs School of Music.