Our Crowdfunding Groups
Our pare
nts, Ruth and Oscar Ravina surrounded themselves with music and used music as a way to inspire and help. In Montclair, everyone knew the Ravina home: Oscar gave music lessons and Ruth would provide a listening ear and a shoulder to cry on, for students, who for one reason or another were in various degrees of distress.
In a 2019 interview she gave to Michael Yashinsky for the Wexler Oral History Project, Ruth describes her reaction at the first time she heard Oscar play violin: “I melted like butter; my jaw dropped; I had never heard playing like that before. He had the most gorgeous sound – that what he was known for, the sound”.
Oscar’s stellar career spanned four decades as member of the NY Philharmonic, concertmaster of the Philharmonia Virtuosi of New York and several other prestigious chamber music ensembles, and solo concert performances under the direction of major conductors.
Oscar’s passion for music also made him a beloved and sought-after teacher. He wanted to inspire future generations of musicians. For 25 years, Montclair students had the benefit of being taught by Oscar. After his passing, students and colleagues honored his memory by establishing the Ruth and Oscar Ravina Talent Award at Montclair State University.
Our parents were a team, and in this year of Ruth’s 85th birthday, we honor her strength and all the love and support she brought to Oscar and our family with a special screening of the award-winning documentary “An Inconvenient Time” by director Denny Klein. It features our mother sharing, in her own words, her resilience in surviving the Holocaust. Her message of hope and persistence through adversity strongly aligns with the mission of the Ruth and Oscar Ravina Talent Award.
For the past 12 years, the Ruth and Oscar Ravina Talent Award enabled student musicians, sometimes first in their families to attend college, to breathe just a little easier and dedicate themselves fully to their craft, instead of worrying about the student debt they would face upon graduation.
Although the award does not fully cover tuition, we are committed to continuing and expanding the legacy in honor of our father. It is our ardent wish to have you join us in celebrating our mother, Ruth, by attending the screening and consider a gift to grow the Ruth and Oscar Ravina Talent Award. To that end, we are advancing a challenge match of $25,000. Please give generously to insure that future generations of music students will know the “gorgeous sound” that defined Oscar Ravina.
SCREENING DATE: SUNDAY, APRIL 10, 2022
TIME: 3:00 PM
LOCATION: MONTCLAIR STATE UNIVERSITY, 1 NORMAL AVENUE, MONTCLAIR SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATION AND MEDIA BLDG., PRESENTATION HALL
PARKING IN RED HAWK DECK: https://www.montclair.edu/campus-map/