Tuesday, September 20, 2005

Grants boost musical Metro Detroiters

By Michael H. Hodges / The Detroit News

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Two musically inclined Metro Detroiters are still reeling from news that they each won highly prestigious MacArthur Fellowships, commonly known as the "genius grants."

The John D. and Catherine T. MacArthur Foundation will publicly announce this year's 25 fellows today.

Violin maker Joseph Curtin of Ann Arbor and Detroit music educator Aaron Dworkin will receive $500,000 apiece.

"It took me off my feet," says Curtin, who, like all recipients, had no idea he was even under consideration.

"It's dizzying," he says of the call he received last Thursday. "And they ask you not to tell anyone, which is a hard thing. Thank God my wife was around, so we could jump up and down and scream."

The no-strings-attached grants are intended to free recipients from the burden of making a living for five years, so they can devote themselves to creative work.

Curtin, 52, handcrafts violins and violas, which sell in the neighborhood of $28,000. Among his clients was the late violinist Yehudi Menuhin.

He's likely to apply the money, he says, to subsidize his research with design and materials to try and make a modern instrument that would match, or exceed, the legendary examples of years ago.

"I really am fascinated by the evolution of the violin," he says.

Dworkin, 35, founded and runs the Sphinx Organization in Detroit, which works to boost the number of minorities in classical music.

Sphinx is best known for sponsoring a nationwide string competition, with finals at Detroit's Orchestra Hall, whose winners get financial help for their education and perform solos with 20 of the best symphonies in the nation.

Asked what he'll do with the windfall, Dworkin laughed and said, "I'm so overwhelmed that at this point, I have no idea. But I feel quite strongly about using it in a way that will continue to have a good impact."

He and his wife celebrated with a simple dinner at home, he says, but adds, "We did buy a really nice bottle of wine."

You can reach Michael D. Hodges at (313) 222-6021 or mhodges@detnews.com.